Mark Drakeford explains why the Welsh Government doesn’t want to …

Mark Drakeford has explained why the Welsh Labour Government is so hesitant to allow major road building projects in Wales. While appearing before the Welsh Affairs Committee in Westminster via video link, the First Minister was challenged about his administration's attitude to road building.

In 2021 the Welsh Government[1] announced that it would freeze many road building projects and since has introduced strict new conditions on new road construction. Mr Drakeford was asked about this by Welsh Conservative MP Simon Baynes who said: "I just really want to try and get into the mindset that you have with regard to road investment on the A483, the junction that goes into Wrexham[2], a lot of development relies upon the improvement of that junction.

"My understanding is that that's not in your plans of things to do. But I do think that in terms of road investment, if you actually put a moratorium on it, it does affect an awful lot of other things. And I can understand, to be fair to where you're coming from on it, but the environmental effects of doing that work are not significant but the economic benefits of doing it are massive. And I think people find it really difficult to understand why you would not want to do a junction upgrade, that can bring so much benefit to people in terms of new housing, work, and so on. So I just wanted to understand where you're coming from on this issue."

Mr Drakeford responded that on "first principles" a "road review is not a moratorium on all road building in Wales". Instead he said it was "a move away from the failed policy of the last 70 years, which is that the way to deal with traffic growth, is to build more roads." For the latest analysis of the biggest stories, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here[5].

He added: "Because we just know that that does not resolve the problem, it simply induces more traffic on the roads that you have built, and you end up having to repeat the same failing cycle. What we will do is to improve the roads we currently have so that they work more effectively, and we will continue to invest in new roads which meet the criteria that we have set up.

"So there will be new road building, where there are clear safety reasons for doing so, there will be new road building where it is necessary to connect different places for economic growth reasons. Where in the Wrexham case, it is not that the Welsh Government has said that we are not going to invest in the solution to some of those traffic challenges that anybody who travels on that road will have seen, but we're not going to do it simply by using the tools of the past.

"So we will work with a local authority and others to find new ways, more effective ways of responding to those challenges, because unless we do that, all we do is repeat the cycles that we have seen in recent times. Cycles, which we know do not solve the problem and contribute materially to the increase in that other great problem that we have to tackle in our lifetimes and that is the impact of climate change."

Under the new plans, roads in Wales will only be built if they achieve any of the following conditions:

  • Reduce carbon emissions and support a shift to public transport, walking and cycling
  • Improve safety through small-scale change
  • Help the Welsh Government adapt to the impacts of climate change
  • Provide connections to jobs and areas of economic activity in a way that maximises the use of public transport, walking and cycling

References

  1. ^ Welsh Government (www.walesonline.co.uk)
  2. ^ Wrexham (www.walesonline.co.uk)
  3. ^ The thing about Mark Drakeford nobody realises (www.walesonline.co.uk)
  4. ^ The Welsh NHS is on its knees and this is who put it there - a special report (www.walesonline.co.uk)
  5. ^ For the latest analysis of the biggest stories, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here (www.walesonline.co.uk)

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