The Party of Wales Shadow Transport Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has reacted with outrage as the Transport Minister announced plans to press ahead with a new M4 without fully consulting on all options.
Rhun ap Iorwerth also said that it was reprehensible that the Minister made the announcement without addressing the concerns and questions put to her by other Assembly Members and by the cross-party Environment and Sustainability Committee.
He said that it was unthinkable that she had made this announcement before the Environment and Sustainability Committee had published its report. The Minister has also refused to appear before the committee.
The Party of Wales Shadow Transport Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said:
“It is beyond belief that the Minister has made this announcement without even responding to the concerns of AMs and cross-party committees.
“The Welsh Government criticised Plaid Cymru for attempting to encourage discussion on this topic whilst the committee was carrying out its inquiry, but showing sheer contempt to the committee, the government has now made its final decision before the conclusion of the committee’s inquiry!
“Plaid Cymru believes that today’s decision is a costly mistake. It is costly for the economy in that there will be a 15 year wait for this project to be delivered when an alternative route could have been completed a decade sooner.
“But it is also hugely costly for the Welsh public purse – why go for a £1bn pound route that will mean infrastructure projects losing out right across Wales, when the £400m blue route would have solved the problem AND left hundreds of millions of pounds extra for investment elsewhere.”
