As regional Member for South Wales East, I am acutely aware of the need to address the congestion issues around Newport. Now that the relief road has been abandoned, which we have welcomed, we need to look at alternative ways of addressing those specific issues, alongside upgrading our transport infrastructure to make it fit for us as a twenty-first century European nation. Yes, it is regrettable that there was no plan B put forward by the Government, but there's little traction in going over old ground on that point—far better to look to the future. Whatever is done next must be based on clear criteria and informed by the declaration of a climate emergency by this nation. Future plans should also uphold the principles of the future generations Act. As the commissioner herself has said, historically, in cases such as these, it has not been uncommon for the economic benefits of proposals to be given precedence, but this is one of the reasons why legislation was needed to redress the balance. So, let's make good use of that Act. 

The black route would have failed on these criteria, since it would have crossed four sites of environmental and scientific importance. It would have threatened the habitat of the common crane, which has recently nested in the Gwent levels for the first time since the seventeenth century, and would have released over 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To add to this, it would have obviously led to a significant increase in vehicles on the roads, at a time when we want to achieve a reduction in transport emissions.

So, a solution that only focuses on facilitating more car usage is plainly not the answer. We in Plaid believe that a hybrid strategy should be pursued, involving multimodal transport options, with a view to addressing the needs of people all over Wales. This hybrid strategy could combine innovative ideas such as smart motorways, where we use technology to influence the flow of traffic; allocated lanes for multi-occupancy vehicles, such as buses, which can also be used as a car-pool lane; we also need to consider smarter use of our current infrastructure in the area. Professor Mark Barry has suggested, for example, flexible working patterns to help alleviate congestion during traditional rush-hour periods. After all, as we've heard a number of times in this Chamber before, it is only 10 per cent of the daily traffic on the route in question that causes the real problem. Freight consolidation—moving freight to rail, or moving freight during the quiet periods—can also provide some respite during this period of congestion. As we raised in our own debate two weeks ago, lessons can be learned from the Scottish example, where the Scottish Government pays grants to companies who decide to transport freight via train, because removing freight from roads reduces not only congestion, but also road traffic accidents.

Now, there are so many innovative ideas being put forward by Members of all parties in this debate, and that is the thing that we should be focusing on now; we should be focusing on the future. Over the coming weeks, Plaid Cymru will be setting up a working group to look at solutions to this issue and, as my colleague, Rhun, has already indicated, we would welcome the opportunity to present those findings in due course. Now, it's clear from contributions across the Chamber that the situation cannot be allowed to just get worse—for the good of the people of Newport, but people all over Wales. We have to work together on this. Diolch.