North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has disputed the Welsh Government’s decision to ditch all but one of 16 road projects in North Wales and highlighted the amount this decision has cost Wrexham County Borough Council.
Last month it was revealed that the Labour Welsh Government would be scrapping schemes across Wales following publication of the Wales Roads Review.
However, challenging the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, in yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood emphasised that as more motorists move towards greener vehicles, emissions are projected to fall by as much as 98%, and asked what action he will be taking “to ensure the well-being of future generations by planning ahead to meet the needs identified in the Road Traffic Projections 2022 Study”.
He said:
“The National Road Traffic Projections 2022 study, published by the UK Department for Transport in January, shows that road traffic in Wales and England could grow by as much as 54% between 2025 and 2060, with a 22% rise under the ‘core scenario’, and the most modest estimate being an 8% increase. Despite this, under all the projections, emissions are projected to fall by as much as 98% as motorists move towards greener vehicles. However, following publication of the Welsh Roads Review, your Government stopped or scrapped all but 17 of 55 road projects, including all but one of 16 projects in North Wales.
“Whilst I've long opposed the ‘Red Route’ in Flintshire, many of these projects were badly needed, from work on the Menai Crossing referred to, to the scrapping of plans to upgrade the A483 around Wrexham. And only yesterday, their Council Leader told me this was a broken promise, which had already cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, and the Welsh Government millions.
“What, if any, action will you therefore now take to ensure the well-being of future generations by planning ahead to meet the needs identified in the 2022 Road Traffic Projections Study?
In his response, the First Minister said:
“If we simply accepted those very challenging figures that Mark Isherwood set out in the opening of his supplementary question, are we prepared simply to see a future in which traffic goes on growing in that way and emissions go on growing alongside it? Well, this Government is not. That is why we have the Roads Review, and that is why, when it comes to schemes such as the Menai and such as Wrexham, we're not saying there isn't a problem, we're not saying there isn't something that needs to be done; we're simply saying that the plans of the future have to be based on our responsibilities to tackle that climate emergency, and simply carrying on with the solutions of the past is guaranteed to make that problem worse and not better.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
“As we heard, his tell, not ask, approach embraces selective evidence and exposes his liberty-limiting mindset.”