We need a transport road map to benefit all ofWales
Underdeveloped links between north and south Wales are a barrier to increasing the number of visitors to Wales and developing our tourism industry – that was the message from the chief executive of travel body UK Inbound last week.
This is an issue we’ve long recognised and which, over the years, has been raised on numerous occasions by many of the businesses FSB represents.
Tourism is at the heart of the Welsh economy, so much so that the Welsh Government identified tourism as one of a small number of “national foundational sectors” in its recently published Economic Action Plan. It’s a truly national, pan-Wales industry.
However, the problem of developing more effective links, particularly road links, between north and south doesn’t only impact the tourism sector. It affects many other sectors and stifles the potential for economic development in significant areas of mid Wales, which find themselves remote from productive markets at both ends of the country, as well as potentially less attractive for businesses looking to locate or invest within communities.
We are, of course, constrained by the geography of our country (ironically, one of our main tourist assets). However, improvements along key routes such as the A470 and A483 would have a significant impact in providing productivity and trading opportunities, as well as improving our tourism offering and better uniting our nation.
The Welsh Government needs to be more ambitious in communicating its intentions towards these sort of improvements. There is currently little talk about improving our roads infrastructure other than the Welsh Government’s controversial Black Route option to improve the M4 around Newport. With the wealth of interest in this project, other areas of Wales could be forgiven for thinking that their needs are currently less important.
I must be clear here – FSB Wales agrees with the Welsh Government and others that there is an unacceptable, economically constraining bottleneck in the Brynglas tunnels which needs to be urgently addressed. This currently poses serious issues for businesses large and small and affects investment.
However, we do not agree that the Black Route presents the only solution to this problem; we prefer the no less effective and significantly cheaper Blue Route option, as proposed by respected transport expert Professor Stuart Cole.
The Black Route’s current estimated cost stands at least £1.3bn and that’s before a spade is even pushed into the ground. With construction projects notorious for their tendency to incur significantly increased costs and the addition of VAT, in even the most conservative scenario this would tie up a greater proportion of the Welsh Government’s borrowing capacity.
As important as the Cardiff Capital Region is, there are many areas of Wales which already jealously eye the proportion of infrastructure spend and attention they get. The perception – whether real or imagined – is that Cardiff benefits to the detriment of other areas of our country. If this is incorrect then that perception needs to be countered more effectively.
We will await the findings of the public inquiry into the M4 Black Route along with everyone else, and that inquiry must be allowed to consider all the available evidence.
In the event that the inquiry rules against the Black Route, the Welsh Government needs to quickly consider alternative options, if it isn’t already doing so.
The new Economic Action Plan gives us a chance to consider economic development in Wales through a new lens. We’ve welcomed the Welsh Government’s focus on economic regions, but we really do need to ensure that all areas of the country have the opportunity to benefit from local economic growth.
If we fail to more effectively discuss and address the transport issues faced elsewhere in Wales with equal urgency, it’s not just the tourist economy which will suffer but the wider economy and those communities.