Minister sees effects of foot and mouth disease (From Western Telegraph)

Minister sees effects of foot and mouth disease

Welsh Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, visited Pembrokeshire last week for a two-day tour of the county.

He was shown both sides of an economy hit hard by foot and mouth disease restrictions while benefiting from Pembrokeshire Lottery funding. Mr Murphy's visit began with a tour of the Begelly Park Gardens, a tourist attraction that was converted from derelict land using lottery money.

In Milford Haven, Mr Murphy visited Rhyal Engineering, a company which developed into a sizeable employer after a loan from the Pemrokeshire Lottery.

Bob Thomas, managing director, said: Our company benefited from local lottery funding and a grant from the Welsh Office. We have gone from having two employees in the first few months to employing over 40 people.'

Mr Murphy then took a tour of the Milford Haven Waterway before returning to the Port Authority for a meeting with representatives of local businesses involved with the Pembrokeshire Lottery.

On Wednesday, Mr Murphy visited St David's Cathedral to see the Millennium Project conservation work.

He met with Pembrokeshire tourism representatives in St Non's Hotel to discuss the effects of foot and mouth disease restriction on the area and look at local marketing initiatives.

The day ended at Broad Haven Youth Hostel with senior staff from the Youth Hostels Association YHA explaining the effects of the foot and mouth disease outbreak on Welsh hostels.

Lynne Garner of the YHA said: 'We were briefing Mr Murphy on our situation.

'We estimate the foot and mouth disease outbreak will leave the YHA £5 million under budget by the end of the year.

'As we are a charity and therefore limited in the kinds of funding we can apply for, we were discussing ways of improving matters.'