The season of country fairs is now truly underway, and it has been wonderful to have been able to get to a number of them already, the spirited Llanbadarn Fynydd Annual Show being just one, with many more to follow, including the Hay Summer Show of course!
Another really important meeting on water quality last month; a good roundtable with Welsh Water where I pressed again the need to restore our glorious rivers Wye and Usk in particular. I once again called for a task force to investigate sources of pollution and tackle them, particularly storm overflows. With the Wye flowing from Wales into England and back again, cross-Government and agency work is something that I think would be really beneficial. Very pleased to see that Herefordshire Council have now adopted my proposal, so I am very much looking forward to following further developments.
Another big one last month, I was greeted with a packed barn at the Fedw Equestrian Centre for a meeting on Welsh Government Proposals to add pheasant and red-legged partridge to Part 1 of Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in Wales, giving an anti-shooting Welsh Government the power to restrict their release and therefore shooting. I was left with no doubt as to the passion felt by all in the view that the Welsh Government have no business interfering in this traditional way of life which supports Brecon and Radnorshire economically and environmentally.
Finally, we have just had a bumper day of Westminster visits on Friday! Some great questions from Llangattock Primary School, who dropped in for a tour as part of their busy London visit. And in the afternoon our constituency coach trip, bringing Brecon and Radnorshire to the heart of Westminster for a superb lunch, Q&A, tour, and to see a coach of old in the form of the Speaker’s State Coach, designed in 1698!
