2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:11 pm on 16 July 2019.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 3:11, 16 July 2019

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Organiser, could I seek three statements, if possible, please, and I will be very brief? The first one is on the equine flu that is, obviously, around Wales and around other parts of the United Kingdom, as I understand it. Many summer shows have already announced either vaccinated animals or no horses whatsoever will be in attendance at their summer show. It would be good to understand how the chief veterinary officer is recommending certain actions to Welsh Government, and what progress is being made, obviously, to contain this outbreak—a very serious outbreak I might add. And if there isn’t pertinent information at this time, given we are going into the summer recess, could I ask the Government to commit to publishing regular updates so that Members are aware of how this outbreak is being contained here within Wales?

Secondly, at the start of this term or at the end of the last term, there was an update on the Barry biomass boiler or incinerator—call it what you will. To date, I believe there’s been little or no progress since that update. It was some time ago—February 2018, and the organiser will be familiar with the times I’ve raised this—that the Government did commit to an environmental impact assessment being made available. I think it’s the Deputy Minister who’s responsible—Hannah Blythyn—because I can appreciate—I can see you looking round the front bench there. It would be good to understand, especially as we’re going into recess: is there any update on the action points that the Government brought forward in its letter? One thing highlighted in that letter was a breach of planning policy. It would be good to understand what interaction has happened between the Welsh Government and the local planning department—I declare an interest as a councillor in the Vale of Glamorgan, and, obviously, the Vale of Glamorgan is the planning authority in this particular instance. So, any update would be greatly received.

And, thirdly, it is important to understand what dialogue the Welsh Government have had in relation to the protests in the centre of Cardiff. I appreciate you’re not directly responsible at this moment in time, as it is a local authority matter and a police matter, but businesses and individuals have been inconvenienced greatly by the continuation of the protest. It is everyone’s right to protest, and it is everyone’s right to bring issues to the table and to the public’s attention, but many businesses in particular feel aggrieved that their normal trading has been greatly disrupted with no end in sight, and I’d be grateful to receive any update that Welsh Government might have, working with other partners, to address the concerns of the protesters and ultimately work with other authorities to bring a normalisation to the centre of Cardiff so that people can have their concerns addressed by the Government, but also that those with businesses and those who need to get about their daily activity can be confident that this disruption will come to an end.