Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 10 March 2021.
Thank you, Minister. Recently, Newport City Council approved a motion formally calling on the Welsh Government to carefully consider calls for a regional referendum on the M4 relief road. A poll conducted by WalesOnline found that double the amount of people supported the road than those who voted against. After restrictions were eased following the end of the first lockdown, during the summer of last year, it was alarming to see how fast traffic levels returned to the M4 motorway around Newport. Minister, what are your thoughts on the suggestion of the need for a local referendum by the council? Does the Minister agree with me that the strength of feeling in Newport council amongst councillors, and in the city, can't be overlooked, and that the next Government needs to seriously relook at the need for the M4 relief road and/or commit, like the Welsh Conservatives, to building the road, which will be beneficial not only for the city but for the whole of Wales?