Diolch, Llywydd. This week, I will not run over time, like I did the last time we had a debate, and I will allocate a minute of my time to Laura Anne Jones, Peter Fox and Mabon ap Gwynfor.

Members in this Chamber and those watching remotely find much about which we disagree. On this occasion, I'm going to focus upon something that I believe we can all agree on—the absolute need to do everything possible to maintain and improve the quality of our water in our Welsh rivers. The rivers in Wales are the silver threads between our uplands and the coast. They are home to a huge variety of wildlife. They offer opportunity for recreational enjoyment and play a crucial role in growing our economy by attracting tourists to our wonderful country. We have iconic rivers in Wales, such as the Cleddau, the Teifi and the Tawe, and, of course, the Usk and Wye, which pass through my own constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire. These have been designated special areas of conservation. They are home to precious species such as the Atlantic salmon, the freshwater pearl mussel and the white-clawed crayfish, and they all need our protection. The SAC rivers gain all the environmental plaudits, but we demote the importance of rivers such as the Conwy, the Taff and the Tawe at our peril. Those rivers pass through our larger communities and we have a duty of care to those living in those areas to improve the quality of water right across Wales. 

The foot soldiers in the Welsh Government's battle to improve rivers are the officers of Natural Resources Wales, effectively an arm of the Government accountable only to the First Minister and his Cabinet colleagues. At the end of 2020, when people were looking forward to making the best of a COVID-restricted Christmas, NRW issued guidance to planning authorities for immediate implementation. The guidance applies to the vast majority of planning applications for development with the potential to increase phosphates into the water courses in the catchments of nine river SACs in Wales. Unless these developments can show that they can be phosphate-neutral or negative, the planning authorities have no course of action other than to reject these applications. That guidance applies to housing, offices, factories and even down to the family who wish to build an extension for a newborn baby or an elderly family relative. Yet this does not apply in the catchments of the Conwy, the Taff or the Tawe, and one must wonder why. Nonetheless, I repeat: we all want to see water quality improving. But one has to question whether other more effective measures have been ignored and whether NRW and those looking to new houses, offices or toilets have fallen prey to the law of unintended consequences.

I welcome the commitment from Welsh Water to upgrade their infrastructure, but this is a long-term programme that does not address the current problem. In my own constituency, for instance, only two of Welsh Water's treatment works, at Talgarth and Llandrindod Wells, can currently remove the phosphates to an acceptable standard. This is well below what is required. All too often, we hear that untreated sewer and phosphate-laden water is discharged from water treatment works into our water courses. So, that leaves us in a situation where the granny flat in Llanwrtyd Wells or the toilets in Brecon using mains sewers are effectively banned by NRW because they will add a tiny miniscule amount to the overall phosphate levels entering our rivers. Yet again, we see a policy decision by Welsh Government being put into action without the necessary engagement of stakeholders, without adequate funding or investment and without giving the solutions to take corrective action. Yet again, the administration's policy is strangling development, putting NRW, Welsh Water and planning authorities in an impossible role, ultimately putting the blame and responsibility of phosphate management onto your average builder and householder. This policy condemns the hopes and aspirations of so many people looking to get onto the housing ladder and throttles the economy. It also curtails the Welsh Government's own targets around house building, and I've said it many times in this Chamber before: it is the left hand just simply not talking to the right.

But let me just suggest a few ideas in the spirit of collaboration, as a problem shared is a problem halved. Agriculture is often accused of being a major source of pollution and one agricultural pollution incident is one too many. Farmers are the guardians of our countryside and care deeply for the quality of our environment and landscapes. Farmers are imaginative and energetic and, as we debate this issue here, many are considering means of improving their management of waste and water quality. But, Minister, they need help. I know Welsh Government have schemes in place to address agricultural water pollution, such as covering muck stores, but the financial support does not go far enough. So, if Welsh Government are determined to solve agricultural pollution, you need to put your money where your mouth is. 

The planning authorities in Wales also lack clear guidance on how to apply these regulations, leaving applications at a standstill in the planning process. So, Minister, I urge you to have wider stakeholder engagement with planning authorities, builders and architects and their agents, so they can all understand how to interpret this confusing guidance. 

Whilst Welsh Water have a long-term aim of upgrading the waste water treatment works, this needs Welsh Government support, and pressure needs to be there to make sure this happens. We also need to look at interim measures. We could look at onsite package treatment plants, a regular feature in rural areas like mine and others in this Chamber. Yet Natural Resources Wales have imposed severe restrictions upon the use of such plants in the river SACs to the point where many hundreds of residential units, dozens of commercial proposals and many home improvements are simply stuck in the planning system. So, Minister, maybe you could look at this and help unblock the problem.

This is not a new problem. In Scandinavia and Germany in particular, tough limits have been in place for many years, and technical solutions have been developed to make certain that outflows from private treatment works actually improve the quality of water in their rivers. These and other solutions have been proposed to local authorities in Wales by applicants, but are met with silence and, at worst, a refusal by NRW to contemplate or even comment on proposed routes through this increasingly embarrassing situation. 

In my area, we have hundreds of applications for homes, many of which are affordable homes, completely stalled. Similar frustration applies to office, retail and even public sector developments of new council homes, and these aren't the only projects in the pipeline. From the new school to the housing association scheme, the new factory, and even attempts to give an elderly relative or a new family member a home, the outlook is bleak for many developments right across Wales. 

Minister, you have the power to address these issues. You have an environmental time bomb waiting for you in the rivers of the valley towns of much of north and south Wales, as they seem to be neglected by NRW, and I call upon you to join us in looking for an immediate and effective solution to this crisis and convene a meeting of NRW, Welsh Water and other stakeholders for an emergency summit to find solutions to addressing this problem, or otherwise your targets of building homes will be missed and many people and businesses will suffer the consequences for many years to come. Diolch, Llywydd.