2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 25 February 2020.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 2:43, 25 February 2020

Could I ask for two statements? One statement would be from Welsh Government Ministers on the issue of erosion of land behind Valley terraces on which run old unadopted lanes alongside watercourses, which threaten over time to erode not only the lanes but the rear gardens of private properties.

So, in Caerau in my constituency we have a row of terraced houses backing onto such a watercourse and an unadopted lane; the sort of lanes that the old council wagons, in the days of those tiny wagons, went up the back and took the steel galvanised bins away and so on. They no longer use them. They're unadopted. They're not owned by anybody, it seems now, but yet the river erodes. In the storms that we've recently seen, they're increasingly being eaten away towards the back gardens of these properties. It's contested land, it's no-person's land, nobody wants to do anything about it, and yet the home owners are really worried.

So, could we have a statement on what happens to this no-man's land, in effect, of unadopted lanes on the backs of properties where streams, in these sort of deluges that we've seen, are now being eaten away and the effect on properties? Or perhaps the Minister could meet with me to discuss this, because I suspect it's something that is widespread across the south Wales area. 

Could I also ask for a statement on the issue of safe road crossings on A roads? Now, A roads, of course, are major roads, they're heavy with traffic, that's why they are A roads, they're major thoroughfares. But the difficulty is that, in some of our Valleys, including my own in the Llynfi, but also in the east of my constituency, it's the only road that goes up that Valley. If people can't cross from one side where they live to the shops or the school on the other side because—. The explanation given is that the guidance does not allow for safe crossings to be done across A roads normally. Well, it would be helpful to have clarity on that. Failing that, perhaps I could meet with the Minister, if the business manager, the Trefnydd, could help me; meet with the Minister, discuss this problem, and seek clarity on the guidance on safe road crossings for pedestrians and others on A roads in the Valleys.