Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates is calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that the Newtown bypass remains on schedule and work gets underway as soon as possible, as traffic chaos through the town continues to cause havoc.
In a recent letter to Mr Bates, Minister for the Economy and Transport Ieuan Wyn Jones states that ‘all schemes in the National Transport Plan require the availability of funding, which as you are aware will be significantly reduced as a result of the recent UK Government Comprehensive Spending Review. We are reviewing the programme and I will shortly be making a statement describing what rescheduling might be necessary.”
Commenting, Mr Bates said:
“It has taken the Labour-Plaid Government years to get their act together on the bypass and much work has already been done in preparation. The Minister has confirmed to me that £3.1m has currently been allocated for the next stage of the development, so I see no reason to delay this work and pass the blame for dragging their heels.
“The Tories must also come clean over their plans for the bypass. On one hand, Tories locally are shouting for a Newtown bypass. On the other the leader of the Welsh Conservatives has stated that there would be further postponements in Trunk Road building programmes under a Tory budget. Clearly they cannot have both!
“We urgently need this bypass to ease traffic congestion which has been choking tourism and trade in the town. A bypass will bring huge benefits to the economy of Mid Wales and I will be keeping pressure on the Welsh Government to commit to keeping development on track.”
