Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 3:15 pm on 11 June 2019.
On 14 November last year, the environment Minister outlined her intention to introduce a whole-Wales approach to tackling nitrate pollution, and Assembly Members were told that regulations would come into force next January—that's January 2020. Residents in the communities of Gelligaer, Nelson and Pen-y-Bryn, in the Caerphilly constituency, have long had to put up with the nuisance side-effects of agricultural activities caused by the Bryn Group at Gelliargwellt Farm in Gelligaer. Constituents regularly contact me about odour nuisance caused by regular slurry spreading. Designating all of Wales as a nitrate vulnerable zone, as recommended by a Welsh Government-commissioned expert panel, in addition to introducing the regulations that I've already mentioned, would help restrict and monitor such activities. Is the First Minister confident that the new regulations, therefore, will improve the situation in my constituency, and would he be amenable to meeting with me to discuss this, once the regulations have come into effect in 2020?