9. Short Debate: Biodiversity: The big picture. Seeding the future — the importance of managing grass verges and grasslands

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:41 pm on 25 May 2022.

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Photo of Samuel Kurtz Samuel Kurtz Conservative 5:41, 25 May 2022

Thank you to the Member for North Wales for bringing this forward. As someone who brought forward the statement of opinion on hedges and edges that the Member kindly co-signed as well, I think this is really important. The agricultural community absolutely has a part to play in this as well. It's about planting the right tree in the right place for the right reasons, and they are absolutely on board with that. A little bit of a plea to the Deputy Minister, though, while he's here: let's not make public safety secondary to this. I draw the example of Milton in my constituency where verges are having a detrimental impact on visualisation on the road on the A477, with constituents really worried about the access from their properties onto the main road, because the verges are encroaching onto the road itself. But, Carolyn, you mentioned how you slow down to look at these verges and enjoy what's there, and I was reminded of the phrase from W.H. Davies's poem, 'Leisure':

'What is this life if, full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare?'

I think it's very fitting that we do take a little bit more time to stare and enjoy what nature gives us in Wales. Diolch.