Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:11 pm on 14 May 2019.
Organiser, could I seek two statements, if possible, please? One in connection to press reports on the weekend in the financial papers around developments of the Ford engine plant and, in particular, the Welsh Government's site at Brocastle and the potential for Jim Ratcliffe's company to come there and build a potential 4x4 vehicle to replace the Land Rover model. I appreciate the Welsh Government has been in negotiations. I appreciate those negotiations have been long and they are commercially sensitive, but there are press reports coming out now, obviously, making various views known as to the potential of this application. An update on where the negotiations are and, in particular, what development the Government has in mind for the Brocastle site in particular, where construction has now just begun, would be beneficial for the local community, as well as obviously workers connected with the Ford engine plant, to understand what progress, with the limits of commercial confidentiality, has been made, because, as I said, these negotiations have been going on for some time and the press are now speculating on this.
Secondly, could we have a statement from the transport Minister in relation to what work the Welsh Government is doing around the A4119, and in particular the arterial roads into the A4119, and junction 34 on the M4 up to junction 33? This is a regional transport issue, where people using those roads are literally gridlocked in the morning coming out from the Valleys—Llantrisant, Talbot Green, Pontyclun, and further up—and then on the way home, the traffic is severe to say the least. I appreciate the metro system is on the cards to come forward in the next five, 10, 15 years, but this gridlock, in effect, is happening here and now and is causing a huge amount of distress to drivers and, frankly, in some instances, is very dangerous. People are looking for as many rat runs as they possibly can, through lanes that are totally unsuitable for the volume of traffic, given the gridlock people are finding around the junction 34 and the road A4119. So, a statement over what action the Government is engaging in, with partners such as the transport agency and in particular the local authority, to alleviate some of this congestion would be most welcome.