Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 26 September 2018.
I'd agree that we do need to see an extension of this initiative beyond our trunk roads and I very much welcome any local authority that presents ideas on how local roads can benefit from the green corridors initiative. One of the proudest achievements of my time as a community councillor was when we had a campaign, a local campaign in Pantymwyn, to try to make it the village with the highest per capita ratio of daffodils, so we embarked on a very big daffodil planting campaign, and some of the main roads into that particular village became lined with daffodils. It certainly did enhance not just pride in the area but also the attractiveness of the area, especially as you entered the village. So, I do think we should see this programme rolled out, not just across more trunk roads, but also, if possible, to local roads as well. Also, as the Member rightly identifies, it also helps to not just mitigate but also to compensate for the loss of wildlife habitats elsewhere. I'm very keen that when we develop new trunk roads we don't just talk about mitigation, which is essentially replacing like with like, but that we actually look at a fairer compensation strategy that sees an enhancement to the natural environment as a consequence road building.