Wales needs to start building

Wales’ infrastructure is an embarrassment. We have just one arterial motorway, the M4, that comes from London and ends just west of Llanelli, with the roads onwards to Pembrokeshire being the A48 and A40, both of which have had safety concerns raised in recent years. In the north, the A55 connects Holyhead to Chester, providing a vital and very busy route for people and cargo from the UK to Dublin.

Connecting these are two of the most tedious trunk roads in Wales. The A470 snakes through the middle of Wales, providing a relatively sluggish but extremely scenic route from Cardiff to Llandudno, through two national parks and several bottlenecks in small towns like Rhayader and Llanrwst. The other connection is the equally beautiful but slow A487 from Fishguard to Bangor.

And the rail links are even worse.

The sad reality is that these transport links, historically constructed to extract resources from north and south Wales, do not adequately serve the needs of modern Wales.

Of course, this is a massive issue in mid-Wales, but it opens up a discussion about the wider political culture in Wales.

Nothing seems to be getting built.

The M4 relief road around Newport has been mooted on and off for over 35 years.

The UK Government has offered the funds to get it built, to ease congestion at the ever-worsening Brynglas tunnels.

Alas, the Welsh Government has done little more than waste £136m on plans, and then say no.

The latest plan is to close some junctions around Newport, which would have the obvious consequence of clogging up the internal streets in exchange for a tiny reduction in motorway traffic.

What are they thinking?

In 2021, the Welsh Government cancelled plans to fund a road which would have linked the M4 to Cardiff Airport, which would have dramatically improved access and made the Airport more attractive to customers and airlines.

Another wasted opportunity.

At some point during the last 27 years, Welsh politicians decided that, instead of focusing on growth and creating a viable post-industrial economy, we should tear apart any proposed infrastructure and look for any reason not to proceed with it.

A third Menai Crossing; A bypass for Llanbedr, Gwynedd; A bypass for Dinas Powys; The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon scheme; safety improvements on the A470 and A487. You name it, the Welsh Government has probably cancelled it or in the case of what few things have been delivered, built them years late, millions over budget and/or downgraded from what was proposed.

This anti-infrastructure mindset is enshrined in law, primarily the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. Passed with good intentions, it is now the excuse Welsh Ministers fall back on to when refusing to invest in Welsh infrastructure.

Former Minister Jane Hutt lauded the decision to cancel the Cardiff Airport-M4 link as “good news for the environment and future generations”.

The working assumption seems to be that “future generations” will benefit most from Wales being left exactly as it is, whilst everyone else modernises.

That is absurd and wrong.

Unelected “commissioners” have been handed far too credence on matters we gave them no mandate to interfere in.

Whatever your stance on independence, building an attractive, functional and strong Welsh economy should be a priority for everyone.

The Welsh Governments of late have focused on banning free drinks refills and wasting money on reviews, consultations and private projects that were doomed to fail, rather than making Wales a country that foreign companies would want to invest in by their own accord.

All for the ill-defined mission of “enhancing the well-being of future generations”.

The new Government has a chance to radically change this culture and start getting the Welsh economy off its backside.

I won’t hold my breath, though.