1. Will the Minister provide an update on business development plans at Bryn Cegin Park, Bangor? OQ57667

Yes. Over the last 12 months we have received significant interest on our development land at Parc Bryn Cegin. We are currently engaged with the local authority and a number of separate parties who have made or are looking to make offers to buy development plots at Bryn Cegin.

Thank you very much for that update. The plain truth is that not a single job has been created at Bryn Cegin Park since the site was purchased and adapted by the Welsh Government, despite the significant funds spent on the park and despite the promises made. Next door to the site is the Maesgeirchen estate and within a stone's throw is the city of Bangor. We desperately need high-quality and permanent jobs and business and training opportunities in order to strengthen the local economy for the benefit of the people living here. I'm pleased to have had that update, but when will the first job be created at Parc Bryn Cegin in my constituency?

Well, I can't give you an exact date on when the actual first job will be on site, because we're still having conversations with those partners and we can't surface all of those in public with named parties, but I've had an update from my officials and I think there is good cause to expect news in the not-too-distant future for jobs to go on that site. And, of course, the Member will be aware that, actually, it isn't just within a stone's throw of the city of Bangor and the Maesgeirchen estate, but also Gwynedd Council has completed a park-and-share, park-and-ride facility next to the estate to make it even easier for people to access work opportunities. So, I hope it won't be too long before I won't just say that this is when I expect jobs to be there, but for jobs to actually be on the site, serving the Member's constituents and businesses who are either relocating there or are expanding their businesses on this particular site.

Thanks to the Member for submitting today's question. I'm sure the Minister will agree with me, and perhaps acknowledge, that it is deeply concerning that, after 20 years, the Bryn Cegin Park still lies empty. And I appreciate the comments you've made in terms of future developments, but we've had 20 years of perhaps missed opportunities to see high-quality jobs in Bangor and across north Wales really helping the local economy.

I do note that the last time this issue was raised in the Chamber, the Minister for north Wales stated that Welsh Government officials were working closely with the north Wales economic ambition board as well, so, I'll be interested to hear how those discussions have gone. But, in light of this whole issue, Minister, I wonder what lessons you and the Welsh Government have learnt and what action you'll be taking to ensure that future job opportunities in developments like this are not missed out on again.

Well, there's no suggestion that job opportunities have been missed out on with this site. We would have wanted to see more jobs placed on this site, but there's no evidence that jobs that would have come to north Wales haven't. I'm looking forward to having jobs on the site and to having good-quality jobs, and there are conversations with the north Wales economic ambition board and that's part of the suite of conversations that are already taking place. If you look at what the Welsh Government has done in joint ventures and individually in developing employment sites, we actually have a good record of developing sites that do generate employment opportunities. Parc Bryn Cegin is unusual, in that, after the development phase in 2008, there still aren't jobs on site, but I expect that to be rectified in a way that I expect that Members from all parties will want to celebrate when jobs go onto that site and the broader aspects of the ambition we have for north Wales and its economic future.