6. Debate on a Member's Legislative Proposal: Electric Vehicle Charge Points

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:58 pm on 5 February 2020.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 3:58, 5 February 2020

As a proud campaigner in favour of greater adoption of ultra low emission vehicles, or ULEVs, I welcome very much this motion from David Melding, and I'm happy to support it.

Just in response to what we heard from Angela Burns—you said you like your car, you like to drive fast, but you'll support EVs—EVs drive like any other car. We're not asking you to give up anything; we're asking you to make a contribution to the environment.

David Melding mentioned earlier that I proposed a similar motion back in 2018. That was not just on housing; that was on introducing planning guidelines for new developments, whether they're public buildings or housing, in order to make sure that we have that wider network. I also proposed a Bill to have a non-carbon-emission public vehicles strategy through legislation for Wales. The point being that we need legislation, and we need to use our legislative tools. The market will deliver a lot of what we want, but just as with broadband, the market doesn't reach out to all parts of Wales. Government has to step in with funding, Government has to step in with legislation too, and we have to look at all those tools at our disposal in order to encourage take-up.

I talked earlier in the Chamber today about money secured by Plaid Cymru in a budget deal a couple of years ago, to secure money for a national network of charging points. Again, the market will pay for a lot of the charging points that we'll need, but when it comes to housing—[Interruption.] I don't think we can take interventions in these debates, can we?