Taxpayers have been left furious after the Welsh Labour government spent £250,000 on a project to count moths – while it cuts public services.
The ‘Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn’ project is surveying the moths’ limestone habitats on Llandudno’s Great Orme headland and in neighbouring areas.
It was handed a grant of £248,348 by the Government’s Nature Networks Fund, and will be delivered by the Heritage Fund.
The under-fire government claims it with help protect at-risk insects, including the Horehound Plume micro-moth.
A Tory councillor branded the spending ‘ridiculous’ – as families struggle with the cost of living and local authorities cut frontline services.
Llandudno’s Louise Emery hit out after a grant was awarded by the Welsh Government to Conwy county council.
She said: ‘Rather than for the benefit of invertebrates, how about Welsh Government benefit schools and communities by properly funding local authorities to improve education and provide basic services such as maintaining highways and public toilets?
‘It’s about priorities, and establishing the number of moths on specific limestone headlands should not be a priority when Welsh Labour in Cardiff continue to tell local authorities they have no money. This is utterly ridiculous.’
The under-fire government claims it with help protect at-risk insects, including the Horehound Plume micro-moth (pictured)
The ‘Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn’ project is surveying the moths’ limestone habitats on Llandudno’s Great Orme headland 9pictured) and in neighbouring areas
The project, which also works with schools, found ‘a staggering’ 1,109 horehound plume moth caterpillars on the Great Orme in Llandudno.
Cllr Emery continued: ‘There is money available from Welsh Government but only for certain things, so while local authority budgets are really being squeezed, Welsh Government finds money for projects such as the Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn.
‘On its own merit, in its own little world, I can see some benefit to that. But in the grand financial picture of what local authorities are facing, I find it incredulous that they can find money for a project like this, but we can’t find money for basic public amenities such as toilets or looking after our parks and gardens or highways.
‘So it’s not that I’m against the project in itself.’
The Welsh Government said: ‘The Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn project was awarded £248,348 as part of the Nature Networks Fund in February 2024. It is a collaborative initiative led by Conwy County Borough Council in partnership with Natural Resources Wales and Butterfly Conservation.
‘The project is carrying out surveys and protecting rare and at-risk invertebrate such as the micro-moth, measuring about 2cm across which has been found in abundance in its only known Welsh habitat. This work will inform future habitat management and conservation strategies.’
Additionally, the project surveyed the population of the rare weevil Helianthemapion aciculare, first discovered in the UK on the Great Orme in 1992. The 2024 survey suggests this remains its only UK habitat.
Cllr Charlie McCoubrey, Conwy council leader said: ‘This is a grant-funded project. It’s important to note that grant funding is for specific projects and cannot be spent on other services. Whilst grant funding is available, we will continue to apply for it.’
Llandudno’s Louise Emery (pictured) hit out after a grant was awarded by the Welsh Government to Conwy county council
Last year it was revealed Labour Welsh Government officials splashed out nearly £16,000 dining at an exclusive New York restaurant and thousands more on World Cup flights, luxury hotels and other hospitality on taxpayer-funded credit cards.
The hefty tab amounted to £1.49million between April 2022 to April 2023, when Mark Drakeford served as First Minister.
This was almost double the previous year’s figure of £821,871.38.
Notably, the expenses included a food bill for exclusive New York restaurant Zou Zou’s, which totalled an eye-watering £15,933.45. They said it was was part of an event to promote Wales for St David’s Day.
