P-05-838 Support the M4 Relief Road Black Route

This petition was submitted by South Wales Chamber of Commerce, having collected 1,482 signatures.

Text of Petition

We call on the Welsh Government to continue with its plans to build the M4 Relief Road along the proposed Black Route, and following the announcement that the Welsh Government will table a debate on the M4 plans later this year, we call on the National Assembly to support the project.

The need for a new motorway around Newport is overwhelming with the congestion around the Brynglas Tunnels negatively impacting on businesses and people from across South Wales. The first proposal for a relief road was published in 1991, almost 30 years ago. Although the failure to take action over three decades isn’t solely to blame, we believe it hasn’t helped the economic well-being of the current generation and has contributed towards:

• The employment rate in Wales being an average of over 3% lower than the UK employment rate since the mid-1990s.
• The Welsh GVA per head being consistently lower than 75% of the UK average since the late-1990s with most recent figures showing that Cardiff’s GVA per head is the lowest of the four UK capital cities.

Additional Information

The Welsh Government’s analysis from March 2016 finds that a new M4 around Newport will improve connectivity within South Wales and with the rest of the UK which will:

• Reduce journey times bringing particular benefits to logistics firms and ‘just in time operations’ who currently face regular disruption and associated costs.

• Save South Wales businesses an estimated £34m a year in transport costs.

• Increase access to employment for residents and expand the size of the accessible workforce for businesses.

• Increase the GVA of South Wales by £39m per annum through increased productivity.

• Create access to new employment sites around Newport with capacity for 15,000 jobs and improve access to sites adjacent to the existing M4 which are held back due to regular congestion.

• Improve the perception of Wales for visitors and as a location for investment.

Please change the status quo of the last 30 years and support the government’s Black Route proposals for the M4 Relief Road so that we can improve the economic well-being of future generations across South Wales.

Evidence
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-43059755
https://statswales.gov.wales/v/C8Ns
https://statswales.gov.wales/v/C8Nt
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossvalueaddedgva/bulletins/regionalgrossvalueaddedbalanceduk/1998to2016#wales-was-the-fastest-growing-country-in-the-uk-in-2016
https://beta.gov.wales/m4-corridor-around-newport-revised-wider-economic-impact-assessment-report

Status

This petition was considered completed by the Petitions Committee at its meeting on 11/06/2019.

The Committee considered the petition alongside P-05-850 Protect the Gwent Levels and stop the proposed M4 motorway. In light of the decision announced by the First Minister on 4 June, and the comprehensive scrutiny given to this issue by the Public Inquiry, the Committee concluded that there was no further action that it could realistically take and agreed to close the petition.

Full details of the consideration of this petitions by the committee and related documents can be seen on the Meetings tab above.

It was first considered by the Petitions Committee on 09/10/2018.

Assembly Constituency and Region

• Newport West
• South Wales East

Further information

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