Warning to anyone who visits Wales as bans to come into force
Many people from Liverpool and beyond love a visit to Wales for a day trip or a staycation, but there are a number of new bans coming into force that we should be aware of.
The Welsh Government has been creating new laws over the past two years, and some of the moves are dividing opinion, North Wales Live[1] reports. Some of the new proposed laws will see common items and practices banned in Wales in the coming months and years.
Some of the new rules are largely well-supported, but others have been hit with a fair degree of criticism from opposition politicians, the media and general public.
Here is everything that could soon be banned in Wales.
Plastics
This one is fairly uncontroversial with most behind the bid to remove more plastics given their environmental impact. Wales’s Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill will make it a criminal offence to supply or offer to supply (including for free) specific single-use plastic products to consumers in Wales.
This law will stop the sale or supply of these products in Wales, unless there is an exemption. The bans will be introduced in “phases”. This is to allow businesses time to use up existing stock and to buy or make alternatives.
Phase one of the bill will come in from Autumn 2023. The following plastic items will be banned unless there is an exemption:
- Plates – this includes paper plates with a laminated plastic surface
- Cutlery – for example forks, spoons, knives
- Drinks stirrers – those designed for stirring drinks or liquid food
- Cups made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene
- Takeaway food containers made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene
- Sticks for balloons
- Plastic-stemmed cotton buds
- Drinking straws – with exemptions so people who need them to eat and drink safely and independently can continue to have them
Phase 2 – will begin to come into force from 2024 onwards. This will see the following items banned from sale unless there is an exemption.
- Plastic single-use carrier bags
- Polystyrene lids for cups and takeaway food containers
- Oxo-degradable plastic products
‘Unhealthy’ meal deals and buy-one-get-one-free offers
As governments across the UK look at how they can tackle the obesity crisis, Welsh Government last month proposed a new law to ban certain foods from meal deals. The new legislation is set to be introduced in the Senedd next year and is expected to become law in 2025.
The legislation will also prevent certain foods from being placed in certain parts of a supermarket, like at the end of aisles, near checkouts and in aisle bins. Part of the plans, which include preventing 3 for 2 and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) deals on some foods, will align with plans in England, however Wales will take things further in relation to meal deals and preventing temporary price reductions in certain foods.
It won’t mean meal deals will be banned but will stop “unhealthy” options being part of the deal. Public Health Wales published research that showed there was strong support for government intervention in relation to “meal deal culture” and placing taxes on high sugar food.
But there has been a kick back over adding extra costs for those who want those options. Welsh Conservatives said they believe the role of government is to educate, advise and to encourage better eating behaviours.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Mental Health, James Evans MS said: “However, during the cost of living pressures we are all facing, we need cast iron assurances from the Welsh Labour Government that they do not intend to ban meal deals and that any new regulations will not increase the average weekly cost for shoppers.
“It is very disappointing that due to Labour mismanagement drastic steps now need to be taken to reduce obesity in Wales.”
Driving at 30mph on many roads
The default limit on restricted roads, usually found in residential and built-up areas like town centres, will change from 30mph to 20mph.
While the default has changed the Welsh Government – which manages the trunk road system – and local authorities can bring in “exceptions” where they believe the limit should remain at 30mph for road, or least part/s of it.
Maps of North Wales roads – including the A55 – that will be exempt from 20mph limit
Snare and glue traps
The Welsh Government’s Agriculture (Wales) Bill is set to introduce bans on the use of snares and glue traps in Wales. The bill was voted through at the Senedd on Tuesday, June 27.
A snare is a wire noose, usually attached to a stake, tree or another heavy object acting as an anchor. They are usually set to catch foxes or rabbits, but cannot distinguish between different species of animals – so are indiscriminate in what they catch. Since 2020, RSPCA officers have been called to attend 12 instances involving snares in Wales which had caught protected species such as badgers and in some cases, much-loved pets.
While self-locking snares are already illegal in Wales, others are not – but this legislation will prohibit the use of all snares, or any other cable restraint, for the purpose of killing or trapping a wild animal, or in any other way that is likely to injure a wild animal.
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References
- ^ North Wales Live (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Weather warning as UK faces ‘extremely high temperatures’ (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Liverpool ECHO by signing up here (data.reachplc.com)
- ^ Win a holiday in Mallorca with a 5-night stay at Cook’s Club Calvia Beach (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)