3. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 7 March 2017.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 2:31, 7 March 2017

Could I seek two statements from you, leader of the house, if possible, please? On Friday, I met with Llantwit Major Town Council, and Llanmaes Community Council. I know you, in your capacity as the constituency Member of the Vale of Glamorgan, have also met with them, but there is widespread concern over the northern access road, which the Welsh Government is promoting within that particular area, and the inability for the councils’ views to be taken into consideration about the transport options around the exciting development around the Aston Martin development in the Red Dragon hangar. Everyone’s supportive of that development—it’s some of the transport options that are being discussed. And, actually, there’s the feeling that they’re being steamrollered through when the existing infrastructure around there, the Eglwys Brewis road, is deemed sufficient by some people to actually meet the transport needs of the future of that area. And also the flood preventative measures that have been identified for the village of Llanmaes have now, from what the community council tell me, been pushed back, and are dependent on the northern access road actually being built and completed.

Obviously, the community were given an assurance in March last year, just on the eve of the Assembly elections ironically, that £400,000, I believe, was going to be made available for these preventative works to be undertaken for Llanmaes, and now they are being told, after the election, that that is not to be the case. So, could we have a statement from the two Ministers concerned here, around flood prevention, but also around the economic footprint about the northern access road, as to exactly what engagement will be carried out with the community going forward, and, importantly, what evaluations of the existing transport routes around that area have been made? Because it would seem foolish to me to spend £15 million on a new road when a considerably smaller sum of money might achieve the end goal on the existing infrastructure that is there. So, I’d be grateful for a statement on either one of those accounts.

And the second statement I’d be grateful for is over the condition of the A48 from Culverhouse Cross to Bridgend. You will be aware of several accidents that happened last week. I think it was six in total, I am told, that happened that week—[Interruption.] It is not a speech—I can hear that coming from a sedentary position. When you have six accidents on a stretch of road, there is a cause for concern, I would suggest. Thankfully, no-one was killed, but there were some serious injuries. And, if you drive that stretch of road between Culverhouse Cross and Bridgend, the surface of that road is in an appalling condition, with several very deep potholes. I’d be grateful to understand what evaluation has been taken by the traffic management of the Welsh Government as to what maintenance might be required for that road, and, in particular, the safety measures that might be put in place to alleviate some of these traffic hazards that do exist on that stretch of road between Culverhouse Cross and Bridgend.