Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 4 October 2022.
First of all, I agree with the points about economic stability that Mike Hedges made. That's the way in which the long-term investment you'll need if you're building houses can be secured. But he makes a very important final point. In my own constituency of Cardiff West, a town the size of Carmarthen is being built in the north-west of Cardiff. That was opposed every single step of the way by Conservative members of Cardiff Council. I don't remember speeches from them telling us to tear up the planning rules so that those houses could be built ever faster. But, this afternoon, we appear to have some offers on the table. We appear to have an offer from the Member for Aberconwy that she'd be happy for planning rules to be torn up in her constituency so that housing can be built in all sorts of places—I look forward to hearing her defend that—and, as Mike Hedges said, a voice from the Vale of Glamorgan looking forward to an explosion of house building without any planning constraints there too.