6. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Climate Change to ensure that new housing developments have community green spaces? OQ58602

Thank you. I have regular discussions with all Cabinet colleagues about matters relating to my portfolio. The Minister for Climate Change is committed to the promotion of quality places and for new housing developments to have adequate infrastructure, including green spaces.

Thank you, Minister. I saw recently an announcement in Madrid that they were going to have open, green spaces around that city, and a local campaigner, Steffan Webb, is trying to do something similar here. We have great parks in Cardiff, but the vast majority were opened in the Victorian era. It is possible to create new parks in Cardiff, in places like St Fagans and St Mellons, and this would create beautiful places for local people, and it would ensure a green belt around the city, and it would also provide a natural protection against floods. How, Minister, can you collaborate with others to ensure that we do have new parks in the twenty-first century in Cardiff?  

Thank you. I always think that Cardiff is a very green city. As you say, there are many beautiful parks here. I haven't had any discussions around any local authority coming to me in relation to new parks since this, obviously, came back into my portfolio, but certainly we would be very keen to look at the merits of any proposal that came forward. 

Minister, as you are no doubt aware, a new sewage pumping station has been proposed on the community green space of Hailey park in Cardiff in order to service the needs of the new Plasdŵr development. Proposals have come about because the developers of the new housing estate have failed to make adequate provision, and the proposals have met with fierce opposition from local groups, such as YGC Rebel Mams, who have been forced to fundraise over £50,000 to take the local authority to judicial review, all because they want to protect the limited green spaces that they have available to them for their children and for their community, and because they feel that they shouldn't be forced to pick up the slack for Cardiff Council's inability to work with developers to plan out the needs of new housing estates. Minister, green spaces in Cardiff are at a premium, and Cardiff Council is determined with all its might to remove them whenever and wherever possible in the face of fierce resistance from residents who know that these spaces will be lost to them forever. So, I ask, Minister, will the Welsh Government commit to encouraging Cardiff Council not to lease the land at Hailey park to Welsh Water so that sewage works can be stopped, and will you offer a commitment that the Minister for Climate Change will work with local authorities to better plan developments, which in turn should stop them from removing the last of our community green spaces in our urban areas? Thank you.

You would have to raise that directly with the Minister for Climate Change. Obviously, the issue you refer to is a matter for Cardiff Council; they are the local planning authority. It wouldn't be appropriate for any Welsh Minister to comment on the merits of any proposal, for instance, as it could come before Welsh Ministers at some point in the future.