I was honoured to have been able to represent Brecon and Radnorshire at the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III last month; a wonderful day and a thrill to see this historic occasion in person, particularly as someone whose first job after university was in the private office of the then Prince of Wales.
Coming as a surprise, was the unilateral decision to change the name of the Brecon Beacons to Bannau Brycheiniog. I met residents and business owners at the launch of the Bannau Brycheiniog/Brecon Beacons Businesses Group campaign last month and got a sense of the outrage there at the lack of consultation for this. In recent days, however, there seems to be a U[1]turn by the Park Authority on the horizon, so stay tuned as we clarify!
We have in the last weeks learned that the Barclays branch in Brecon is sadly set to close. I am doing everything in my power to ensure customers retain access to cash, as I made clear during my meeting with Lloyds and will certainly be again with Barclays. I was delighted that in Lloyds’ case, my lobbying has resulted in the cash point being retained. Coming at the right time, the UK Government has also just announced that access to cash is set to be enshrined in law, a big win for Brecon and Radnorshire.
The recess just gone has been an absolutely whirlwind, with fairs attended, six surgeries hosted, packing out pubs! All really good opportunities to chat with lots of residents, including on concerns around proposed wind turbines and pylons. Another key and long-sought meeting was with the Environment Secretary and Welsh Government on pollution in the River Wye – really important cross-border cooperation I will continue to call for.
