, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay. Soundscapes. Do you agree with the inclusion of the soundscapes provision in the Bill and should we have a definition of the term 'soundscapes', to make it more understandable, on the face of the Bill? And the Minister actually says it's more…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay, that’s fine.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay. Any of you—? No.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Trunk road charging schemes. I have no doubt that you’re probably in favour of them, and I just have to ask for the record: do you agree that the Ministers should have the power to expand and create trunk road charging schemes to tackle air pollution?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay, thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Just very briefly, is there a survey that's been done? In Wales, we have the oldest housing in the UK, so a lot of them will still have open fires. We're not even talking about wood burners, they'll have been built over 100 years ago, and it's just if there…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay. Can I—?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
You very briefly mentioned the equality part, because on grid and off grid is—. I understand where you're coming from; I cover most of rural Wales. But you did, very briefly, mention the cost-benefit to the individual in terms of—they've got a wood burner…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay. Thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
And is that the case now?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
What this makes me think is that there's a need for an overview of planning, particularly if we look at routes—roads, particularly, public transport—and also a requirement that is going to be met by new housing or maybe a new hospital or maybe a new school…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Okay. So, is there a particular recommendation, from what you said earlier, that you think we could make?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 7
Thank you. Yes, I've taken notice of poultry units, particularly in Powys, for example, and what you just said is that, below a certain threshold—. But there's an accumulation effect along riverbanks. So, if you were going to say something to us that we could…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
Okay. I think that's it.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
The other thing we're interested in is that, at the moment, if you do have a charging scheme, there is no ring fencing for those moneys to be used on improving this particular area, but they can be used more widely. Do you have any views on that? Do you think…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
Yes, should they be set out?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
Yes, and the thresholds, the criteria and the monitoring.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
In NRW's paper—I know you were about to speak, so you can put the two together—you said that there should be a more regular review on the pollutants in the air, when we're talking about clean air. If you put together the trunk road charging and then if you…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
It is what it says: trunk road charging. Do you agree that the Welsh Ministers should have expanded powers to create charging schemes for trunk roads to tackle air pollution?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence session 6
On the same theme, in terms of the effect that excess levels of ammonia is having on the plant life that you've described, what effect then does that have, equally, on any wildlife or species that would be dependent, particularly, on the plant life that will…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Sustainability of Welsh Bus Services - evidence session with local government
Thank you very much.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Sustainability of Welsh Bus Services - evidence session with local government
That's what I was going to do anyway. A lot of it's been answered, in any case. So, we've all talked about the reduction in funding, but particularly I would like an answer on how that's going to impact on the wider target for bus services and the goal that…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Sustainability of Welsh Bus Services - evidence session with local government
Picking up where Carolyn just finished, we talked about the ring fencing—I think it’s about £20 million of underspend—and we were told by the previous witnesses, and I’m sure you were watching, that if we added another around £5 million, £10 million to that…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Sustainability of Welsh Bus Services - evidence session with bus operators
That's it, Chair.
