9. Will the First Minister provide an update on the designation of the Clwydian range and Dee valley area of outstanding natural beauty as a national park? OQ59644

Delivery of the commitment to designate a new national park remains on track for completion during this Senedd term. With a project team established and initial analysis complete, Natural Resources Wales has now moved on to gathering the detailed evidence needed, and engagement with residents, users and key stakeholders of that new national park.

I welcome the progress, First Minister; that's really good to hear. One common concern is managing tourism so that it's sustainable, and I believe that the area of outstanding natural beauty already is very good at doing this. One initiative that they have is the hop-off, hop-on bus that tours the Dee valley. it's a circular route running every Saturday from 1 April to 4 November, linking Llangollen and the surrounding villages to popular local tourist destinations, including the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, Wenffrwd nature reserve, Horseshoe Falls, Valle Crucis abbey, Plas Newydd historic house and the Horsehoe Pass. First Minister, would Transport for Wales promote this initiative along with a general campaign to get more people on public bus transport? It's really good to use this bus to visit local attractions, rather than taking the car. And could you update the Chamber on when you expect the consultation to proceed regarding the redesignation with the local local people living in the area? Thank you.    

Llywydd, I thank Carolyn Thomas for those questions. On her final point, the process of gaining national park designation is a significant one, and there are a series of legal obligations that have to be discharged along the route. A point in the process will come where there will be a formal consultation. We expect that to happen in 2024, and what will happen in advance of that will be the engagement exercise that I referred to in my original answer.

As to the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus, it’s one of the pleasures of First Minister’s questions to become more familiar with parts of north Wales as we follow the Member on her bus journeys around it, so I’m grateful to her for that. I’m sure that the bus in the Clwydian range, the Dee valley area, is a very important part of reducing congestion and increasing access and, Llywydd, there is very good evidence to draw on in improving those services in the new national park, because Sherpa’r Wyddfa, which is a new service that I’ve mentioned here before in answering questions from Siân Gwenllian, has had a similar service in the Eryri national park since 2021. In 2021, the patronage of that service was 267,000 passengers, and it grew to 380,000 passengers in a single year, in the year 2022. So, we’re expecting a further growth in that service and I think it demonstrates the success that can be had from providing bus transport focused on the particular advantages that come with being a national park, and making sure that visitors are able to use those beautiful parts of Wales in a way that is convenient for them, but sustainable for those who live in that area as well.

Finally, question 10. Jack Sargeant.