Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:58 pm on 8 March 2023.
I think we heard from Sam Rowlands as a Member for North Wales that he very much supports the red route going through Flintshire.
As we've also heard, the Deputy Minister and the panel he created have abjectly failed to listen to any of the concerns of the communities and dismissed all of their concerns, instead pressing forward with their own narrow-minded agenda without any suitable alternatives. We heard from Delyth Jewell and others that we're facing a pivotal moment where, on top of cancelling vital road projects, Wales is facing a crisis in its transport system. These include concerns about the 65 per cent to 100 per cent of bus services facing being cut by small firms, because of a lack of funding, falling bus journeys, a staggering 11,000 train journeys cancelled over the last three years, and one in six rail passengers being dissatisfied with Transport for Wales services.
If this is, as we heard from the likes of Jenny Rathbone, Huw Irranca-Davies and Jane Dodds, Wales's reaction to climate change, isn't it bizarre that there has been absolutely no impetus to increase electric vehicle use, which will be a major factor in reducing emissions? Why do we have just over 1,400 public charging points here in Wales, well below the 50,000 fast-charging points that the Welsh Government itself has predicted will be needed by 2030? And why are there only 94 zero-emission buses in service in four authorities?