Petition calls for trunk road decisions to be devolved to North Wales

On February 14, the future of more than 50 road improvement projects became clear after the delayed review commissioned by the Welsh Government was published.

The projects had been paused by the deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters, when he set up the Welsh Roads Review Panel led by transport expert Dr Lynn Sloman in September 2021 to examine the case for continuing with them.

It meant that plans for a third Menai crossing between Anglesey and the mainland have been replaced by a review into how to improve congestion and the resilience of the current bridges.

The Welsh Government said it would 'develop options to ensure the resilience of crossing the Menai Strait in a way that supports modal shift, aligned to the future road building tests'. 

It was also announced that improvements to the A483 around Wrexham would be scrapped and a review will be set up to consider an "exemplar" project to reduce car usage.

Also scrapped was the 'red route' which would have seen a new eight-mile stretch of dual carriageway linking the A55 at Northop with the A494 and A550 north of Deeside Parkway Junction via the Flintshire Bridge.

The move left politicians 'at a loss for words' and 'disheartened' and many others are now campaigning for change.

At present, decisions over whether to improve the A483, A55, A494 and A5 are made in the Senedd in Cardiff.

But, a fresh petition is now live which calls on important decision-making for north Wales to be made in North Wales, rather than in the south.

Askar Sheibani, chair of Deeside Business Forum, is driving the petition forward.

It needs at least 10,000 votes in order to be debated in the Senedd.

He said: "At the moment all the roads, except large trunk roads, come under the responsibility of the six local authorities in North Wales. Including the trunk road networks within the responsibility of the six local authorities in North Wales will lead to much more relevant and pragmatic decisions, as local authorities are far more in tune with local businesses, communities, and the economy.

"North Wales has some of the largest industrial parks (such as Wrexham and Deeside) in the UK. There are many internationally known companies that have made North Wales their home.

"It has one of the biggest manufacturing jobs concentrations in the UK, Holyhead and two international airports nearby (Liverpool and Manchester) make it easy to promote North Wales as a great place for investment.

"Unfortunately, its road network is outdated and is therefore preventing the region from achieving its potential for economic growth. These roads including the trunk roads must be planned and designed together in consultation with the local communities and businesses to achieve the best return on investment.

"This will address local needs such as easy access to employment. Only a locally based decision will address North Wales' road transport needs. The voice of local businesses and communities needs to be heard."

PIC: Chair of Deeside Business Forum, Askar Sheibani.

Mr Sheibani added: "Local businesses are disappointed and very angry that their preferred choice of route is now going to be scrapped. They are now asking the Welsh Government to devolve all the decision-making power and its allocated budget for all road building to the six local authorities under the umbrella of Ambition North Wales.

"We believe the North Wales local authorities have the local knowledge, have local roots and are therefore better positioned to come up with much better decisions than the Welsh Government which relies on out-of-touch academics and consultants who have no local connections in North Wales.

"I urge all the councillors, Members of the Senedd, MPs and businesses to encourage their constituents and staff to vote for this petition. We need to demonstrate our unity and determination, regardless of political differences, to overturn the Welsh Government's recent unwise decision and devolve responsibility for all future road building in North Wales to North Wales."

Speaking about the decisions in the Senedd, the Welsh Government's deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters said: "The publication of this Roads Review, along with the National Transport Delivery Plan, and our new Roads Policy Statement, represents a major step forward on that journey.

“Let me be very clear at the outset, we will still invest in roads. In fact, we are building new roads as I speak - but we are raising the bar for where new roads are the right response to transport problems. 

“We are also investing in real alternatives, including investment in rail, bus, walking and cycling projects.

“Of course, doing that in an age of austerity is very challenging. Not only are we not getting our share of HS2 investment, but the UK Government is pushing many bus services over a cliff edge, as well as slashing our capital investment budgets.

“Even if we’d wanted to keep progressing all the road schemes in the pipeline we just do not have the money to do so. Our capital budget will be 8% lower next year in real terms as a result of the UK Government’s failure to invest in infrastructure.

“With fewer resources it becomes even more important to prioritise and the Roads Review helps us to do that.”