To provide members of the public attending the meeting to ask questions of the statutory partners.  The public joining the meeting via YouTube are being provided with the facility to email in questions during the meeting.

To provide members of the public attending the meeting the opportunity to ask questions of the statutory partners.  The public joining the meeting via YouTube are being provided with the facility to email in questions during the meeting.

Richard Tyler (RT), asked about the fate of the Water Protection Zone (WPZ) proposal and whether DEFRA turned it down? The Welsh and English statutory agencies were asked for an update.

GW shared the response. The WPZ was always an option on the table, but there was a need to assess the effectiveness of existing legislation. Time was needed to establish whether new officers were making a difference before going down that route.

AW described a similar situation in Wales, a WPZ had to be evidence based and current regimes had to be shown not to be effective or beneficial.

RT has the minister been asked that question?

AW not aware of formal response from Welsh ministers, but will follow it up.

Action: AW to follow up with WPZ proposal response with Welsh Minister.

[Action by: AW]

Andrew McRobb (AMR) asked “if the farming rules for water say there should be no excess nutrient put on greater than the crop needs, why, if 3,000 tons a year is being applied, aren’t we questioning this?”

GW was not able to answer this and said she would pass it back to the team at the Environment Agency.

AMR stressed that we were not following the farming rules for water as they are written and that he would just like an admission that we were failing.

James Marsden (JM) nobody is talking about sheep and total poo and the components of poo and pee other than RePhoKus. Until we reduce total poo, we’re not going to get anywhere, why aren’t we reducing livestock numbers across the catchment? The agencies appear to be unwilling to go there because they have their respective governments on their shoulder telling them not to. JM what is holding the agencies back, they have the measures to deal with this?

AW responded that agriculture was major part of the rural landscape in Wales and that this was a sensitive issue, but those conversations were happening with the agricultural sector and Welsh ministers and this is a priority for the Welsh government. Watch this space.

ES pointed out that sheep farming tends to be less intensive.

JM suggested having a look at the RePhoKus data, which suggests there are 11 million sheep in Wales.

Helen Hamilton (HH) noted that the ecology of the Wye goes much deeper than just phosphate. In the presentation about the SPD using Farmer Scoper they’re only applicable in the Lugg, now that the Lugg catchment area is already failing.

HH said that the local authorities must take a precautionary approach, and that you don’t wait until you’re absolute failing to hit your targets before deciding to do something. The position statements and regulation assessments need to be done to prevent any further deterioration and to prevent any interference with measures that are being taken to try to restore the special area of conservation (SAC) to good condition. The position statement as it is very misleading.

RJ explained that in a presentation to cabinet, she had made comments of concerns about the Wye and establishing whether it is recovering or not. This is a crucial question for Council.