In my contribution, I'm going to respond to the speech given by Huw. Huw, of course, mentioned the need for change, and I agree entirely with what he said, but what Huw said came from an urban perspective. The world is very different in rural areas.

As everyone knows, the Llanbedr bypass was the first to hear of its fate. The news came as a huge shock to local people, and those people were very angry. Indeed, the suggestions before the announcement had said that the proposal would proceed. The residents and the community and communities nearby had been waiting for over 50 years for a resolution to their problems, just to be disappointed at the very last moment. And indeed, the Government had invested millions of pounds in preparations for economic development in Mochras.

So, why were the people of Llanbedr so keen to have a bypass? Well, for those of you who are unfamiliar with that community, I will paint you a picture. Llanbedr, without doubt, is one of the most beautiful villages in Wales, and it's split by the river Artro. There's only one road through the village, which is the A496, the highway connecting Barmouth and Harlech, and to cross the river one must go over a narrow little bridge that dates back to the time of Cromwell. When a lorry, a tractor or even a van crosses that bridge, the whole village comes to a stop, and this happens regularly. The result of this is long traffic jams of vehicles waiting patiently to cross the bridge, letting out their poisonous emissions. 

A number of ambulances have failed to reach patients in time because of this issue, and have had to ask for the air ambulance. There are local businesses that have left or are considering leaving because of the valuable time wasted unloading stock because of queuing. The parents of young children or people with mobility issues choose to drive hundreds of yards only in order to go to the nursery school or the shop, because the bridge is too dangerous to cross on foot. And needless to say, the bridge is grade II listed and nothing can be done to it.

I understand the rationale that the Deputy Minister has provided for not building more roads—and Huw mentioned it earlier—namely the fact that it will mean more vehicles on more roads, and more roads, and more vehicles, and that vicious cycle. The rationale is entirely valid, but not in all cases, and certainly not in the case of Llanbedr. Indeed, in Llanbedr, everyone has a car because of these difficulties. Indeed, one could make the case that, in having the bypass, that would take vehicles off the highway, enabling those parents to walk to the local nursery school and to allow people to go to events in the village hall or to go to the shop near the bridge.

The Deputy Minister said that we need modal shift, using more public transport. Well, the Minister won't find a more enthusiastic supporter of that than me in that regard, but there has been no investment in public transport. And indeed, as things stand, it's likely that the bus routes currently in existence will be cut because of that lack of investment. I acknowledge that the original plans had looked at preparing a bypass that would allow carrying vehicles up to 60 mph, but those communities and the local authority, Gwynedd Council, have looked and mitigating this and changed the proposals in order to change that speed limit to 40 mph in order to reduce emissions.

In a previous response, the Deputy Minister said disparagingly to me that nobody has said that elderly people are expected to cycle everywhere, but the truth is, if you read the report on Llanbedr, which was published back in 2021, it demonstrates that the priority for Llanbedr is active travel. In an isolated community such as Llanbedr, it's nearly impossible to implement active travel to go to the surgery or to go to the shops. But, in having a bypass, that would allow people to walk and to go to the community events that I mentioned earlier. And indeed, in his evidence to the environment committee last week, the Deputy Minister said: