Senedd clash over third Menai crossing and M4 relief road

A Reform MS has told the Welsh transport minister to “stop thinking and just get on with it” during a Senedd debate on future transport priorities.

Clwyd MS Louise Emery clashed with transport minister Mark Hooper in the Siambr on Tuesday October 6 over plans for a third Menai crossing and an M4 relief road.

Ms Emery accused the minister of lacking commitment to a new Menai bridge, pointing to a lack of detailed funding in his official statement.

She said: “It sounds like you’re just thinking about a third bridge, which simply is not good enough.”

Mr Hooper rejected the criticism, telling the Siambr his government remains fully committed to delivering the crossing and accusing Ms Emery of failing to understand the building processes.

He said: “The member, and all of this [Reform] group around here, just seem to think that you can click a finger and things happen.

“Let’s get into the real world. The real world is that it takes real work to get these things done.

“The interesting thing is, when I was speaking to civil servants earlier prior to this, I was saying I was looking forward to this debate, because I do look forward to these debates.

“Do you know what they were saying? They’re looking forward to getting stuck into doing the work. That’s what they’re waiting for, and that’s what’s going to happen.”

“Sticking plaster approach”

Ms Emery also questioned the minister over long-term solutions for the M4 around Newport.

In his statement, Mr Hooper acknowledged the M4 as “one of the most important transport corridors in Wales” and set out an 18-month programme to develop engineering solutions.

He also outlined a five-year delivery plan focusing on targeted road and junction improvements, including potential local closures, to ease traffic flow.

Ms Emery dismissed the measures as a “sticking-plaster approach” linked to an anti-motorist agenda, calling instead for the construction of the M4 relief road, known as the black route.

She said: “Reform UK have costed this at £2.8 billion. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but I will guarantee here that, if there is a Reform Welsh Government, we will be lobbying and working with a Reform UK Westminster government – which is coming, ladies and gentlemen – and we will build the M4 relief road.”

Mr Hooper warned that reinstating the cancelled black route would take decades of work before construction could even begin.

He continued: “To suggest to the people outside that you can deliver it in an instant is disingenuous – and I’m being kind in saying that.”

Instead the transport minister said his government is committed to making “an actual difference to people”.

He added: “This is about a strategic suite of projects that need to be deployed together. These are the ways that we make the difference to the M4.

“And it’s not straightforward. There is no silver bullet. If there was, we’d talk about it.”