3. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Clean Air Plan

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:56 pm on 10 December 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 3:56, 10 December 2019

I just want to emphasise my disappointment that we aren't going for a clean air Act in this Assembly, because it is in the manifestos of all three main parties for this general election, so there is huge consensus around this and, therefore, I wonder why it isn't possible to move forward on something that we can all agree on. It's also in the Liberal Democrats' manifesto as well. 

Not repeating what other people have already said, picking up on Jayne Bryant's point about the lack of hedges around schools to protect them from air pollution, can we therefore ensure that all local authorities are stopping the indiscriminate spraying of pesticides around school perimeters, because that makes it impossible to produce these hedges if they're then being killed off?

The other thing, picking up on an idea in the Green Party's manifesto, is the importance of ensuring that new housing developments aren't built in areas where there is no ready access to public transport. My question, apart from the one back to the local authorities, is: once we've re-regulated bus services and we now have Transport for Wales commissioning train and bus services, is it the aspiration of the Government to make travelling by public transport cheaper than travelling by car?