Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 10 November 2021.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. A fortnight ago, in declaring that a climate emergency meant that we need to change the way we travel, you published an update for the Swansea bay and west Wales metro, noting that 17 per cent of carbon emissions in Wales come from transport, and that we therefore need people to shift to more sustainable modes of transport. As part of the report published, there are maps of the proposed plans, and there are large gaps in those maps in terms of transport developments to serve the Swansea and Afan valleys particularly. Plaid Cymru has argued for some time for a south-west Wales metro, and we believe that a metro programme would have to include rail or light rail to link western Valleys communities. These gaps in the plans are therefore disappointing given the economic, green and social benefits, and therefore will the Deputy Minister explain why there is no intention, from what I can see, even in the longer term, to develop and strengthen transportation links in the Swansea and Afan valleys to help residents get easy access to transport in accordance with the founding principle of the Government's transport strategy?