The Labour-run Welsh government has been told to ban dogs from the countryside in a bid to make the outdoors ‘anti-racist’.
Labour’s devolved administration has set out plans to end racism in the country by 20230 and ensure ‘all areas’ of public life are transformed.
In a report to the Welsh government, Climate Cymru BAME has advised that dog-free zones should be created to make local green spaces more inclusive.
The report was produced after a call for evidence to evaluate ‘racism relating to climate change, environment, and rural affairs’ and to guide Labour’s 2022 Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan.
The Welsh Conservatives have condemned the report as ‘outdated virtue signalling nonsense’, The Telegraph reports.
Labour-run Wales has been told to ban dogs from parts of the countryside amid plans to rid the country of racism by 2030. (File image)
The reason behind the request for dog-free areas is not elaborated on in the report, which will be used by the government to ‘support policy teams’ that are ‘developing and implementing’ Wales’ anti-racist plans.
On the basis of reports provided to date, the Welsh Government has concluded that ethnic minorities face ‘barriers’ to the outdoors created by ‘exclusions and racism’
The Government has concluded that ethnic minorities face ‘barriers’ to outdoor areas created by ‘exclusions and racism’.
A separate set of recommendations submitted by the North Wales Africa Society also called for ‘dog-free areas’.
It added that during one of its focus groups, ‘one black African female stated that she feels unsafe with the presence of dogs’.
Others also kept ‘seeing dog fouling on the floor’, the report added.
Barriers to outdoor activities includes the perception that growing food in gardens or allotments is ‘dominated by middle-aged white women’.
The Welsh government were also handed complaints that mess and the quality of urban green spaces was a consistent issue recorded in reports of ethnic minority experiences.
One person complained that ‘the green spaces are not respected in areas where there is a bigger population of ethnic minority people’.
Other issues flagged included lack of public transport to non-urban green spaces and poor air quality in towns and cities.
In the report which was published on November 6, ‘some participants expressed apprehension about visiting the countryside owing to their racial or religious identities’.
The Welsh Conservatives have condemned the report as ‘outdated virtue signalling nonsense’. (File image)
It added there were ‘concerns of the lack of understanding and relationships by the wider white population particularly in rural areas, from personal experiences’.
The conclusion of the report was blasted by the Tories, with Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, saying: ‘This kind of outdated virtue signalling nonsense is completely out of touch with the needs of the people of Wales.
‘Labour is stuck on yesterday’s thinking, the kind that is being roundly rejected globally. Time to turf them out.’
A Welsh Government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to creating an anti-racist nation by 2030. Our Anti-racist Wales Action Plan is built on the values of anti-racism and calls for zero tolerance of all racial inequality.’