Dr. Andy Bleasdale:

I will repeat something we have said a few times already. We need to be careful not to try to find an heir to the blame here. There is a multiplicity of problems here that need to be resolved. I would also argue against trying to find a solution to national policy that could happen quickly enough to resolve the issues at Lady's Island Lake. They are two separate conversations. One is about the national focus, which will involve a slow evolution, and the other is about a quick pivot as regards the needs of Lady's Island Lake.

I would be cautious about trying to work out how to address the pollution problems here in this room but it is a source issue and pathway issue as it gets into the lake. There will be varied issues around the margins of the lake. Some areas will be more important than others as regards threats and pressures. I would argue for co-ownership of the solutions in partnership with the bodies we have already mentioned. These bodies should work together, bringing whatever schemes they have available with them, tailoring them, applying whatever additional funding is required to bring added value to them and making them localised, flexible and nimble. We should respond quickly to the brainpower in those groups to work out where the pressures are, what the solutions might be, how those solutions could be resourced and how farmers could be brought on the journey towards those resolutions over time, although I would hope quite quickly.

Again, the mandate is needed to constitute the group. I do not believe funding should be the issue or will be the limiting factor. Existing schemes could be tailored and adapted to the needs of Lady’s Island Lake.