4. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of wildflower meadows on wildlife in Denbighshire? OQ58599

Llywydd, the Denbighshire wildflower project recorded 268 wildflower species on their sites in 2021. One-hundred-and-thirty-six of those species had not been found there before, and the site network of the project is growing every year, supported by Welsh Government's Local Places for Nature initiative.

Thank you for that response, First Minister, and the reason I ask the question this afternoon is that I've been contacted by many residents from the Nant Close area of Rhuddlan, and from the coastal areas of Rhyl and Prestatyn over the summer, who are very concerned about some of the uses of wildflower meadows in built-up residential areas. Now, I can certainly see the benefit of wildflower meadows and the positive effects these have on promoting biodiversity and wildlife in Denbighshire, but would you join me, First Minister, in calling on Denbighshire and local authorities to adopt a more common-sense approach to such projects? So, where there is good evidence of effectiveness, then by all means keep them, but when there is little evidence of this, then to cut them down and restore some horticultural order, so that we can dispel the myth that the council can't be bothered to cut the lawn and give my constituents assurances that—[Interruption.]

Let the Member finish his question. Let the Member finish his question, please.

Thank you. So that we can dispel the myth that the council can't be bothered to cut the lawn and give my constituents assurances that next summer will be more effective than this one.

Well, Llywydd, I genuinely didn't imagine this afternoon that we would hear that the Welsh Conservative party is against flowers. [Laughter.] They're against almost everything else, but I hadn't expected to see wildflower meadows added to their list of things that they don't support in modern Wales. Of course, I do not support what he said this afternoon. In fact, I absolutely congratulate Denbighshire council.

And by the way, Llywydd, these would have been the actions of Denbighshire council at a time when the Conservative Party was part of the administration of Denbighshire council, because you don't create a wildflower meadow in five minutes. It can take a number of years to achieve what his colleagues managed to achieve in Denbighshire.

I think it's a matter of genuine congratulation to the Denbighshire wildflower project, working with the local authority, that they have been able to create nearly 50 acres of native local-provenance meadows across the county. That is a really significant achievement. It is a proper contribution to sustaining biodiversity, to doing the things that we can do that make a difference. I congratulate them, and I think their local Member would be far better off supporting those efforts rather than carping from the sidelines about them.

Can I just declare an interest? I'm a member of the North Wales Wildlife Trust. Thank you. I attended the wildlife trust annual general meeting on Saturday. They do great work with landowners regarding managing them for nature, and the chief executive officer spoke of significant concerns about UK Government policies weakening environmental protections on leaving the EU, and also deregulation under investment zones. She spoke about how Wales is leading the way regarding policies for nature, and one great project is the 'It's for Them' Welsh Government nature project, working with councils and local nature partnerships, managing verges and amenity grasslands for biodiversity, taking the residents along with them. North Wales Conservative MPs have been writing to council leaders, including Denbighshire's, encouraging them to show an interest in these investment deregulation zones, and I know that two bordering English council leaders were not consulted before being added to the list.

So, First Minister, will you write to north Wales council leaders, sharing your concerns regarding the pressure put on them regarding the natural environment under the deregulated investment zones? And could you also write in support of the good work they're doing in the 'It's for Them' project, managing our wildlife areas and grass verges for biodiversity, so we can bring our residents along with them? I'm worried that it might fall lower down the list under austerity 2. Thank you.

Well, Llywydd, first of all, can I thank Carolyn Thomas for all the work that she has done, commissioned by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, to champion better management of our road verges and grasslands across north Wales? Carolyn Thomas is absolutely right, Llywydd. This is what deregulation means. In practice, what it means is stripping away the protections that you and I have so that we can preserve our environment, so that we can make sure that the rights we enjoy are there for us for the future. This is a real issue for us here in Wales, because we have cross-border designated sites where we will want to make sure that the highest standards are maintained, and we will not take kindly to the idea that those standards should be lowered in pursuit of some sort of ideological commitment to removing the protections that exist at the moment.

I'm very happy to write, in the way that the Member has suggested, to congratulate those north Wales authorities who are doing great work in this area and to make sure that they understand that in the Welsh Government they have a Government that is on their side.