Industrial Pollution

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:46 pm on 11 February 2020.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 1:46, 11 February 2020

Can I thank the First Minister for his answer in relation to that point? Last week, we had a debate here in the Chamber on air quality and a clean air Act, possibly. It focused very much on PM10s, PM2.5s and vehicle emissions, but of course industrial pollution is also added to that, particularly nuisance dust, which people might consider a harm to health but actually it also drives people's mental well-being downwards, as they come in, day after day, to see the mess outside their homes and in their properties and everywhere else. I've raised this many times in this Chamber, First Minister.

Now, we all understand the importance of industries to our local economies, but there's also a need for them to be responsible neighbours. As we have left the European Union and we are now looking at an environment Bill to come from the Welsh Government, there's an opportunity for us to actually look at regulations and improving environmental regulations. Strengthening them to ensure that the number of days that are seeing a breach to the level of safety standards is reduced; that Natural Resources Wales has more teeth so that they can actually take action when those neighbours are not responsible; and we can ensure that industries, such as the steelworks in my own constituency and others, are ensuring that they do not emit beyond the reasonable levels; and they do not have the impact upon our communities that is driving those communities downwards regarding mental health conditions.

I have so many constituents raising concerns about the pollution that, day after day after day, they're seeing. Sometimes, it's noise pollution as well. So, these are very important issues. Will you use the environment Bill to actually give us that strength to ensure that we can take action when necessary?