We move on now to item 4, a statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government on the Wales coast path. I call on the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, Hannah Blythyn, to open.

Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer.

Last week, we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of devolution in Wales, an occasion that provided an opportunity to reflect on our key achievements in the past two decades. Since its opening in 2012, the Wales coast path has established itself as a beacon of our nation's natural beauty. Its route stretches 870 miles around our entire coastline and is the first of its kind in the world, an achievement that we can all be proud of.

So, as we look back on the achievements of devolution, I wanted to highlight how we are continuing to develop and promote this fantastic asset, as well as how this fits in with wider efforts to increase access to our great outdoors. The path is a jewel in Wales's tourism offer. It makes a huge contribution to the Welsh economy, and it is estimated that it generates around £84 million a year in visitor spending and supports more than 1,000 jobs. The offer though is not simply about tourism and the economy; our Wales coast path can bring broader health and well-being benefits. We must make sure the benefits of the path are valued and enjoyed by people and communities across the country, in particular everyone who lives and works near our coast.

However, a hugely popular walking route can also bring with it issues and challenges, and we are continuing to invest in upkeep and maintenance. Our partnership with Natural Resources Wales sees nearly £1 million invested annually. NRW, who look after the path on our behalf, continue to work with local authorities and landowners to improve the alignment and quality of the path, and mitigate erosion.

A series of new circular routes, new publicity material and a toolkit for coastal businesses are some of our latest initiatives. The toolkit has been designed to help coastal businesses market their products and services through the pulling power of the path. It is a free, easy-to-use online resource that gives businesses access to a wide range of material and information in one place. It provides guidance on how businesses can give customers an unforgettable experience and better market their own businesses, using the coast path as a key asset. The toolkit was launched in March this year, with a series of free seminars around our coast, from Swansea to Narberth, and Conwy to Beaumaris.

A revamped website is in development. It will provide up-to-date information and a new interactive mapping tool. Natural Resources Wales is also working on a new augmented reality app, which will include engaging visuals, informative stories and interactive games.

Some of our more intrepid walkers complete the whole path in one go or over a period as part of a challenge. For those people, we are looking at a new system to incentivise and reward people completing stages or the whole trail. Far more people, however, walk shorter sections. With this in mind, we are developing different ways for people to enjoy their visit. A new series of circular routes will open up more of our fantastic inland countryside, in addition to the coast itself.

This year is the Year of Discovery in Wales, and this May marks seven years since the path was officially launched. Our coast path is celebrating by holding its very own walking festival, and I'd like to pay tribute to Ramblers Cymru for putting on a huge range of events, catering for all abilities.  

As well as the coast path, we have three national trails and a range of other promoted local routes to enjoy. These provide access to some of our country’s finest scenery, not only for walkers but also for cyclists and horse riders. I was therefore pleased that we were able to fund additional projects worth over £0.5 million to improve the coast path and national trails in 2018-19. These will allow some important pieces of work to be carried out to improve the experience for everyone.

This Welsh Government is committed to deriving greater benefit from the huge network of footpaths we have. Wales has the greatest length of rights of way per square kilometre in the UK. However, improvements can be made to the way access to the outdoors is provided, managed and promoted in Wales. We've consulted very widely on a range of measures, and I'm grateful for the input of thousands of people and organisations. The size of the response we received is testament to the huge value the people of Wales place on their cherished countryside and landscapes. I made a written statement last month, responding to this consultation, that sets out our planned way forward.

Our long-term approach to access will be to provide a greater range of opportunities for outdoor activities. It will also promote responsible recreation that strikes an appropriate balance between the interests of both users and landowners. Our countryside is hugely important to the people of Wales and everyone must continue to have the opportunity to enjoy it. The success of the Wales coast path, and our commitment to reforming access more broadly, will ensure we continue to build on this success for the benefit of all the people of Wales. 

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Can I thank the Deputy Minister for this very timely statement, made during the remarkable Wales Coast Path Walking Festival? Can I pay tribute too to the hard work of Ramblers Cymru, who are facilitating many of the festivities? Can I also emphasise to the Minister and the Chamber that I am a keen user of the path, especially in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and on my home patch, Glamorgan? So, I benefit immensely from this wonderful facility. 

I'm particularly pleased to see the development of the app and the revamped website. I do believe in making this vital tourist attraction more accessible in a modern digital age. It sends a good image, I think, of Wales. As the Minister said, the coastal path is the world's first uninterrupted route along a national coast and gives hikers access to undiscovered sections of the coast, with stunning views, as I can attest to, and also rugged landscapes and rare wildlife. It's very pleasing indeed, actually, to take a pair of binoculars along with you and then just see some of the most wonderful but usually secluded wildlife. It truly is something to be proud of.

I'm also pleased to see how the Government is encouraging innovations, such as the development of circular routes that are connected to the path. I know from experience that, sometimes, if you've just got a day, you're looking for a circular route. It's really, really useful to have that, and it also brings a slightly wider area into connection with the path.

There are some issues, and I make these just to improve what is, I think, a great facility. The Minister referred to access issues, and we do know that some local disability fora have highlighted the issues around access by wheelchair and other barriers, such as those that are sometimes put in to stop motorbike riders from illegally getting onto the path. I know that at least one county council, Flintshire, has admitted that it does need to improve its access for disabled users, particularly where it's connected to viewing points, for instance. It's a great thing to enjoy, and I think we must remember that those with limited mobility or who are wheelchair-dependent still want to enjoy as much as possible the open environment. So, I think that's something to bear in mind.

If I can turn to marketing, the marketing toolkit, which I have looked at, is very comprehensive, covering all aspects of a marketing operation for local businesses, which can then capitalise on the walking paths. This, I think, is really, really important, but I just wonder if you're going to take it further and connect it to a properly funded strategy for walking in Wales. I know this is something that Ramblers Cymru are really keen to see, and we should set ambitious targets to promote walking as an everyday activity with additional support for the least active.

As you said in your statement, the benefits of the coastal path are not solely felt through the economy and tourism, though they are principally felt there, as the figures you referred to demonstrate, but there are health and well-being benefits too, and we can also connect it to our legislative basis in the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013. Ramblers Cymru have also mentioned the need to connect it into the health service, so that we can get people more active there who have or are developing the likelihood of health problems.

I also think there needs to be an international strategy. Llywydd, you can now walk all around Wales. I have walked the entire length of Offa's Dyke though it's—I'm amazed to think this, but it is 40 years since I did that, between sixth-form and university. But Wales is already pretty well-known out there internationally, and I think we need to build on that, because it's a premier location for walkers. It's particularly popular with walkers who come from the Netherlands and from Germany, but also other parts of Europe and also North America and other parts of the world. What these people want when they're enjoying our wonderful environment, both, as I said, up into the mountains but also around the coast, is they want boutique hotels, they want really good-quality restaurants—

Member of the Senedd:

Hear, hear.

—and they want access to—indeed, I hear another Member, who I know has enjoyed these facilities—nearby market towns and villages, so, you know, with good transport links when you need to make that little journey from the walking path you're following. But these people spend a lot of money. They're high-end tourists. When we think of people who are walking, we could be tempted to think it's a holiday that doesn't bring in much economic activity for the local community. Well, that's quite wrong. These people really are leading in terms of developing our tourism and improving the facilities, so that we're really up there getting some of those active tourists and cultural tourists also, who want to experience the totality of Wales but also enjoy very good restaurants and hotels when they do that—. But, broadly, this is work that's really been well developed, we warmly welcome it, and I do hope the Government will act on some of the suggestions I've made, which I know they've reflected on and the consultation has also, and other organisations like the Ramblers are making these points. Thank you.

Diolch. The Member will be pleased to see, with the use of the new app and the developed website, the modern technology being used to boost our natural assets and to promote them. I think the Member did a very good job there himself of very eloquently promoting our wonderful Wales coast path. The Member mentions about being a regular user. I would suspect and hope that all of us in this Chamber use the coastal path to some extent or another, and I actually look forward myself to joining Ramblers Cymru on one of their anniversary walks at the weekend as well. 

I think you raise an issue that's been raised with me before in terms of access, in particular people with disabilities. I think it's about getting that balance between protecting the route but also making sure all the people of Wales can enjoy it in the right and responsible way, and I'm sure that's something, as we take forward the proposals on access, that we can discuss with stakeholders, with disability forums, but also with our partners in local authorities, NRW and landowners alike. The importance of circular routes—I think not everybody wants to walk the entire coastal path or are able to, and also you go to one point and then you don't necessarily feel fit enough or have enough time to walk back again. One of the things we're trying to develop with the new circular routes is actually starting to get this aimed at, perhaps, more family audiences, to bring them on board to start to enjoy the health and well-being benefits of the coastal path, and these are looking at being around 2 miles in length, so you're looking at just about an hour or two, and actually making sure they're near to facilities and transport links as well. So, it's thinking strategically about how we do that in the future.

A really important point too on being a part of an international strategy about how we sell Wales to the world. I was just in my own constituency, out on Friday, and the best kind of meetings and walks I have are when I go for a meeting in the Clwydian range and have a walk, and I was up the Penycloddiau hill fort, and you look out into the distance and in one direction you've got Ruthin and Denbigh, and beyond that you can see the Snowdonia range and Offa's Dyke. This is not only just to promote to more people within Wales what we have on our doorstep and the benefits that brings, but actually internationally the wonderful natural environment we have. And I'm pleased that the Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language, as part of her new international strategy—that will include the importance of Wales's natural assets and promoting tourism, inward investment and that positive image of Wales as well.

May I thank, first of all, the Deputy Minister for her statement, and, of course, I welcome the content of it, because the issue of the Wales coast path is one very much to be welcomed. It was an exciting development and it's a development that we have seen developing further over the last seven years, and we can look forward to seeing it continuing to develop year after year. Because there are magnificent views the length and breadth of Wales, and, of course, along the 876 miles of the coast and along the Wales coast path. And as we heard from the Deputy Minister, this is the only nation that has a coast path that does include its entire coast, and that is something to be treasured and celebrated. Of course, there are a number of magnificent sections to our coast—I won't just focus on the Gower, with 26 magnificent beaches that can be enjoyed, or Llansteffan, or even where I was over the weekend, in Manorbier, where the coast is wonderful there in south Pembrokeshire, before we go on to the Ceredigion coast, of course, which is full of wonders. And Aberaeron is a treasure, I do have to say. But I can't talk all afternoon on this, so I should focus on specific issues with regard to the celebration and the statement, indeed.

Yes, it's a matter to be welcomed, of course, but there are two points to make, though: of course, conservation is vitally important, and, of course, as David Melding has mentioned, health issues are also very important, and we also pay tribute to the Ramblers for promoting walking in our nation. It's a fairly easy way to keep fit. You don't need membership of any gym that costs thousands of pounds. Walking is the way forward—10,000 steps every day. And just going on the Wales coast path—you will have achieved that in the blink of an eye, and it wouldn't feel like 10,000 steps either. And this is vitally important when we talk about conservation. This is an element of tourism that attracts tourists, attracts money and boosts the economy, but, thinking about responsible tourism, therefore, that also safeguards the environment, and that whole conservation aspect is vitally important.

And, of course, there's caring for our environment, and also, taking advantage of the opportunity, I'd like to see the Deputy Minister emphasising this: it's not just a case of looking after our natural environment, but also about looking after our linguistic and cultural environment, because, for many parts of it, it is the Welsh language and Welsh culture that are inextricably linked to this coastline. There are some examples where we are losing our old traditional Welsh names, and not just those traditional Welsh names but historic Welsh names, and names in several other languages. We've lost Porth Trecastell on Anglesey, which is now Cable bay, and there are some other examples, just because people can't pronounce the name of the island or the name of the river or the name of a particular headland. But I can't think of any other countries on earth that would be willing to change the names that they've had on various geographical places for centuries in order to please those people who don't want to give the indigenous language a go.

So, just because somewhere looks isolated or remote on our coastline, that doesn't mean that it doesn't have a traditional name—either a Welsh name or a Brythonic name or a Viking-inspired name. So, we need to keep those names, not just in terms of natural conservation but because of the linguistic and cultural conservation of our nation, given the natural wealth of all of our names. Every headland and every part of the coastal map has a name. If you look at the historic maps of our nation and at the wealth of names and the descriptions that are there in the Welsh language—of course, some of the modern maps don't include all of those names, so people will think, 'Well, this place doesn't have a name. Why don't we give another name to it—a name from another nation?' No, it will have a name—it's a matter of finding that original name. So, I'd like to have some sort of assurance from the Deputy Minister that we are considering these matters of safeguarding and conserving natural place names on our coastline as well.

The second point, as well as congratulating everything that is going on with regard to the path that you can walk on around our coastline, some have mentioned the creation of an all-Wales cycling route. Some Ministers in this place are very fond of cycling, so what about developing a cycling route alongside the walking route, because I think that there is a valuable resource there as well?

To conclude, therefore, we'll be tackling the health agenda, the fitness agenda, the obesity agenda, as well as getting to grips with the tourism issue, that considerate tourism, that does not just mean turning up and thinking, 'Well, if it rains, what do we do then?' It's about thinking about the development of our nation and explaining to people the rich history of our nation, and our language and our culture, without being ashamed of it at all, and what is there with our coast path. What is there not to like about the coast path? Long live the Wales coast path. Thank you.

Llywydd, I think, in future, when we want to create marketing adverts for the Wales coast path, we should just ask Members in this Chamber to talk about their favourite areas. I'm sure we all have a favourite and we all have areas we've not been to yet, which we'd really like to go to. But I think the contributions so far show how valued a natural asset it is for all of us, as the only nation, indeed, as Dai Lloyd said, that can boast having a coast path that covers magnificent stretches. I remember many years ago, when I was working outside of Wales, people there would come up to me and talk about the Wales coast path; they were going there on holiday and I'd tell them about different places that they could visit as well. So, it shows the vision and the reach that we have to build on there.

The Member is absolutely right in terms of the work that Ramblers Cymru are doing in promoting walking, for a lot of people as an accessible way to keep fit and to boost their health, and where you can do as little or as much as you want. And it's right that we're looking at these new circular routes and shorter routes so that people can—you know, to make it open to as many people as possible.

On the points the Member made in terms of it not just being about conserving our natural environment—and, as you know, we want more people to enjoy the coast path, but it's absolutely right to strike that balance between conservation and promotion, to make sure we maintain our natural assets, but also there's also the aspect of the environment in terms of, actually, how we deal with things that are very high in public consciousness, such as plastic pollution and littering, so the role that some of the other initiatives we're taking across Government, as part of Refill Cymru, can play in that as well.

In terms of looking at our cultural environment, one of the things we're looking at, building on these new circular routes or different routes, is, actually, to focus on different areas, not in terms of geographical areas, but culture and heritage. As we take that forward, there might be something that the Member would want me to share information with him on and for you to be able to input into that, as we take it forward as well.

In terms of cycling, I confess I am a keen but somewhat lapsed cyclist at the moment, given that it's difficult, often, to find the time. I keep thinking, 'Oh, in the next recess, I'll get out for a long bike ride' and it keeps going back to the next and the one after that. But one of the things, following the written statement on access, that we'll look at is how we can better use multi-use passes for activities like cycling and also horse riding as well.

I'd like to thank you for your statement today, Deputy Minister. I'm very lucky to live close to some of the most spectacular and celebrated stretches of our country's coastline, one of those being the Pembrokeshire coast. I do represent many more miles, of course, and most of the coastal path is, in fact, in my region, and it stretches from the Llŷn peninsula to Carmarthen bay. There are unique discoveries to be found all along the 870 uninterrupted miles of the Welsh coastline—so I won't be doing a circular walk in a day—from rare wildlife to industrial heritage. And you can see both together, if you know where to look. You will see kestrels, little owls and many other examples of bird life living in what are disused, now, industrial sites, but they're not unused industrial sites if you care to look for those things. So, I think we need to join those two elements together to tell another story that we are able to do.

I think that the Wales Coast Path Walking Festival, ending this week, has been brilliant in celebrating and promoting the coastal path. I think it's also worth reminding ourselves that the Wales coastal path is just seven years old. So, we have moved along pretty quickly within those seven years. And we know that visitors have always headed to our coast for different reasons, whether it was the miners' fortnight at Barry Island, or whether it was dolphin watching in Cardigan bay. But we've created the unbroken path; it's a continuous physical link. The Wales coast path project can, going forward, create more opportunities to link together those different visitor experiences and therefore boost tourism in the years to come. I have to agree with David Melding when he talks about this being high-end tourism, because people who walk the path do it for many different reasons—bird-watching is one reason, photography will be another reason—and there will be sales of cameras and binoculars, backpacks and other things along the way, and those people who sell those goods really do gain from this creation.

So, I hope that you'll continue to support and promote initiatives like the walking festival, which do help to sell the Welsh coast as a destination for more reasons and all seasons, and I think that that's a key message, because people do walk this path in all seasons and for many different reasons. One of the questions that I would like, Deputy Minister, is whether you will join me in thanking the people who keep that path open, from the staff who work—and I've met some of them; I'm sure others have—in all sorts of weathers to the volunteers who also take up opportunities to make sure that we can keep walking this path, and also to recognise—and other people have mentioned it today—the real benefits to people, particularly mental health benefits, from either volunteering in working opportunities to keep that path in good order, or to escape to the countryside just to make them feel good and so that they can escape the pressures of work. I think that that is of critical importance, which is now, I'm glad to say, eventually being recognised.

I absolutely join Joyce Watson in thanking the staff and volunteers who keep this wonderful asset of our path open, maintained, sustained, like you said, in all weathers throughout the year. Their work and their commitment are certainly to be applauded, and you're very lucky to represent the area you do and boast such a huge swathe of the coast path itself amongst that.

You talked about, actually, how one of the wonderful things, one of the amazing things about the coast path is it can combine rare wildlife with our rich industrial heritage as well, and, actually, how we bring them both together and promote that to visitors to the coast path. I can see that in my own area alone, where we've now got a new section put in the trail with the old pithead and the Point of Ayr colliery and a model of the old pit pony, and it gives you some boards there with the history of it, but you go just around the corner and then there's the RSPB area where you can look out across the Dee estuary.

So, yes, certainly, it's what we have worked on and we should build on, and one of the things we're looking at—I know the Member said she was going to do the long walks, not the circular walks, but one of the things we are looking at, as I said earlier, in terms of these circuits, is looking at focuses and different themes, and one of them could be wildness and certainly heritage as well, so that's one way we can maximise on those assets as we take this work forward.

In terms of high-end tourism and the opportunities there for us both as a nation, but also those businesses involved, that's why I think the toolkit for coastal businesses is very, very important and to do what we can as Members, too, to promote that to businesses within our own constituencies and our own regions. There's a range of material that these businesses can benefit from. Resources include logos they can use, news items—they can get posters and videos to use on their own online/offline marketing to try and capture that growing market as well. I definitely will be promoting the walking festival. I will be there on Sunday, and I will manage to find a walk that combines two elements of my portfolio, where I'll be going for a walk and also litter picking as well.

When I grew up, I was born in Gowerton, and if you turned left going out of my house—the steelworks were right in front, but, if you turned left, you'd walk down the old—submerged now—canal path, where once a famous Conservative son of Swansea was lifted bodily out of a Labour Party meeting and hurled into the canal. It's now been filled in, so that can't happen anymore. But you follow the canal along there and it takes you down to Penclawdd and the mudflats of the north Gower, the estuary, the Loughor estuary, and, if you keep on going around the 13-mile peninsula, you then turn into the beautiful sandy coves on the south. I thought I'd been born in heaven, I have to say. I thought I was extremely lucky. But, as you get older, you start to realise that, actually, we're blessed in Wales, throughout Wales. All parts of the coast are remarkable, are glorious.

My only regret in celebrating, as I did, last weekend with Ramblers Cymru, Pembrokeshire national park, Natural Resources Wales, a local ramblers group, my old colleague Andrew Campbell of the Wales Tourism Alliance—. We were gathered there in Saundersfoot doing a mix of coastal path and heritage trails, going inland a little bit—some of the new circular routes. My only regret is that Wales beat England to the march on this, but it's a nice regret, actually. I took through the coastal path Bill for England back in—. Crikey, when was that? A decade or more ago. And we're still building it. Now, it's a big thing, but we'll get there, apparently, by 2021. But that will then be remarkable, that you'd be able to walk not only the Wales coastal path but all of the England coastal path as well, from Carlisle to Newcastle and beyond, and walk the whole of England and Wales, should you have the time and be so inclined and have stout boots and make that whole journey. But I guess I am one, Llywydd, of those people referred to as those people who do go and spend money in the local economy. I will walk for miles and miles and miles but then always end up spending on a good meal and a few beers, and probably a nice place to stay in a B&B overnight. And there's plenty of people who do that. It's remarkable—the impact on the economy. And we shouldn't forget, of course, and I welcome the statement today, that this is in the fine tradition of things like the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the rights to roam, the access to the national parks, the rights of way legislation—all of those things that have opened up the countryside and coast for generations of people since that first progressive post-war Government, and long may this continue. Interestingly, while we were in Saundersfoot, we saw the development there of the new marine centre—the scaffolding was going up and so on—and the magnificent harbour development that they have there, with £4 million of possibly our last tranche of European funding going into it, into a remarkable performance and gathering space on that harbour, transforming it for a new generation.

If I could ask a couple of questions of the Minister—. It's been referred to already, the issue of accessibility of sections, at least, of the coastal path, for those with mobility issues or those who use wheelchairs or mobility devices. It's right that we make sure that the coastal path is accessible for everyone. Also, what do we do for diverse groups that don't normally access the outdoors? I recall we had a very good mosaic project, working with the national parks years ago, that was looking at different communities from BAME communities who, traditionally, generationally, do not go out into the outdoors, but working with them and with people within those communities to introduce those communities—and multigenerational within those communities; mums and dads and grandads as well as the children—to the outdoors. What are we doing on that to make the most of that with our Wales coastal path?

I wonder if the Minister could also speak to her colleague dealing with transport and public transport, to have a look—I don't need the answer now, but to have a look at the TrawsCymru buses issue, because a lot of people I know have made really good use of the free weekend TrawsCymru transport in order to go. I'm looking forward to my free bus pass when I get older, okay—is it 60 or 65? I'll have to check. Not long to go. But the number of people I speak to who are walking sections of the coastal path using either the free bus pass or the TrawsCymru weekend bus and then walking sections back and then catching it again—it's really opened it up. In terms of social inclusion and healthy lifestyles and so on, it's a major innovation. So, if that discussion could happen—.

Could I, certainly as vice president—one of the two vice presidents—of Ramblers Cymru, give my great thanks to the Ramblers—not just for what they're doing with the festival at the moment, but their ongoing work with maintaining footpaths, byways and so on? It is always a challenge—there's a lot of volunteer effort in it—but they really deserve credit for what they do.

Perhaps I could ask the Minister as well for her thoughts on the continuing challenges, because of where we are with funding, tight funding, at the moment. I'm going to try and avoid using the 'austerity' word—. No, it's out there now. But local authorities are stretched in terms of their rights of way. People now connecting up some of the circular routes, on the coastal strip as well, is to do with keeping those normal rights of way accessible as well.

And, finally, if I could simply say how much I welcome this, because of the innovations in here, not least the toolkits for businesses, as well as the circular routes, which should meet everybody’s possible needs—. Long may it continue. Keep the energy behind this. Don’t give up on it. And it’d be interesting to see, maybe in a couple of years, a further economic assessment of the impact of the coastal path on the Welsh economy.

Llywydd, I’m afraid I’m going to have to start by saying that I fundamentally disagree with the Member: I don’t at all regret that Wales beat England to the mark on this. But I absolutely agree with Huw and thank Ramblers Cymru, not just for the walking festival that ends this weekend, but also for the ongoing role they play in terms of not just the maintenance and looking after our coast path, but also the initiatives they bring forward to encourage people to benefit from it as well. And, on that, I think everybody could—. On the accessibility issues, I think there is, like you said, that balance between making sure we don’t have vehicles that aren’t meant to be there, but actually making sure that as many people as possible, across Wales and beyond, can make the most of what’s there on many of our doorsteps. So, like I said, it’s certainly something that should be considered with stakeholders and local authority partners and NRW as we take forward some of the access reforms.

One of the great benefits of this portfolio and my previous one is that I get to have what are called meetings, when I get out and about in the fresh air, and I get to enjoy this to see what’s happening in practice and, talking about actually how we introduce communities who don’t usually use the outdoors, as part of that, I’ve seen a number of really good examples of best practice across the length and breadth of the coast, but also inland, in our national parks as well. So, it's certainly something that I want to see replicated in communities elsewhere. Perhaps this focus on some of the new, shorter walks and circular routes that are more accessible by public transport and facilities might be a means to encourage more people to literally take that first step and to enjoy our Wales coast path. I’m certainly more than happy to have a conversation with my colleague the Minister for Economy and Transport with regard to actually how we, in terms of TrawsCymru, make sure that, you know, all modes of transport, our feet and our public transport, can match up to best promote our coast path in the future.

I thank the Deputy Minister.