'It was a pleasure to attend the event at Broughton Airbus which welcomed the new Airbus H175M military helicopter'

MS for North Wales

I attended the Royal Welsh Show (RWS) for visits, meetings and engagements, including the Brit Grower’s community growing project in the Horticultural marquee, celebrating community gardening projects within the RWS host County of Clwyd, such as FlintShare, Incredible Edible Wrecsam and Tŷ Pawb. Other engagements there included ITV Cymru Wales; RSPB Cymru; the Army; S4C; and British Veterinary Association (BVA) Welsh Branch.

It was a pleasure to attend the event at Broughton Airbus which welcomed the new Airbus H175M military helicopter to Broughton, and to learn more about the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s New Medium Lift Helicopter competition; Airbus’ plans to create a H175M helicopter production facility at Broughton; and how the H175M will create hundreds of jobs across the UK and sustain thousands more in the supply chain should it be procured by the MOD.

I Chaired a meeting of the Cross-Party Group on Deaf Issues, which included an update from the National Deaf Children's Society and discussion on mental health referrals to England for Deaf people; Deaf people & the Criminal Justice System; local authorities bringing ‘Makaton for all’ policies into the Early Years Children’s Programme (Makaton is a language programme that uses signs together with speech and symbols); Health Board primary care Audiology services; British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications and the curriculum; and my proposed BSL (Wales) Bill.

During an on-site visit with National Trust Cymru to find out more about the Upper Conwy Catchment project, I learned that although their work is focussed in the Upper Conwy, they hope to have positive impacts downstream and across the entire Conwy Catchment, slowing water from the uplands to cut flooding lower down the valley in towns including Llanrwst. I also met members of Cwm Community Action Group, which promotes the well-being of the residents of Cwm Penmachno.

The entire Conwy catchment covers an area the size of the Isle of Man, with habitats changing from blanket bog and moorland in the higher reaches of the Migneint (peatbog) to ffridd and woodland as you wind down towards lowland farms, meadows and estuaries.

I also took part in Surveys for both the Law Society and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association Wales, to inform their work in Wales and engagement with MSs; and in a North Wales Postgraduate’s MSc research study on ‘Rural Second Home Tourism and Sustainable Communities’ , that ‘seeks to understand the relationship between second home ownership and their potential issues or benefits within rural communities’.

If you need my help, email Mark.Isherwood@senedd.wales or call 0300 200 7219.