GBGB urges Senedd Members to act on "flawed legislation" of ban Bill
Ahead of today's crucial Stage One debate, Board CEO Mark Bird releases statement
GBGB: Senedd Members must prevent harmful Bill advancing
THE GBGB has released a statement ahead of today’s Stage One Bill debate on the Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Bill - with Mark Bird, CEO of the Board, very much on the front foot.
He said: “Today each Senedd Member has a choice.
“They can either disregard the unprecedented criticism of two cross-party committees and risk passing flawed legislation, or they can act responsibly and prevent a harmful Bill from advancing any further.
“As one of the Committee Chairs has already said, this is not how good law is made.
“In the final months of the Senedd term, the focus should be entirely on issues that voters actually care about, not a political Bill which will only have negative implications for jobs, the economy and animal welfare.”
Valley Stadium recently stated that any ban would have an economic and social cost of £15m - a point which was made during a landmark visit from Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies.
After the visit, stadium promoter Katie Bennison said: “Over recent years we’ve invested heavily to make Valley Stadium one of the UK’s leading greyhound tracks.
“The proposed ban would be catastrophic - it risks worsening dog welfare, not improving it, by increasing travel distances for Welsh greyhounds. It would also destroy jobs and shut down a facility that delivers proven economic and social value.
“We’re grateful the Minister visited today so we could show—clearly and with evidence—that this ban does nothing for welfare. What it does do is remove a vital asset from our community.”
Recent weeks has also seen the GBGB welcoming “unprecedented criticism” of the proposed Bill from the Senedd Culture Committee.
The Senedd Culture Committee criticised the Draft Bill at every level - taking a particularly dim view of the process behind the legislation.
A statement from the GBGB then said: “The Culture Committee have criticised every element of this Bill and how this process is being run. It is clear that they believe this Bill is at risk of being ill-judged and ill-considered legislation if it passed.”
