Freeze to all new road building projects including Dinas bypass

Ministers say it is a necessary part of Wales' effort to reduce carbon emissions.

Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters announced the review in the Welsh Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Projects that already have diggers in the ground, such as the Heads of the Valleys Road, will continue.

Lee Waters told the Senedd: “Since 1990, Welsh emissions have fallen by 31 per cent.

"But to reach our statutory target of Net Zero emissions by 2050, we need to do much more.

"In the next 10 years, we are going to need to more than double all the cuts we have managed over the last 30 years, if we are going keep temperature rises within safe limits.

"That means changes in all parts of our lives.

"Transport makes up some 17 per cent of our total emissions and so must play its part.

“We need a shift away from spending money on projects that encourage more people to drive and spend more money on maintaining our roads and investing in real alternatives that give people a meaningful choice.”

Vale MP, Alun Cairns, has said in reaction to the news: 

"I am greatly disappointed by the Welsh Governments decision to freeze all road building projects across Wales. 

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"This will directly impact us here in the Vale with the pausing of the Dinas Powys-By Pass. 

"Those who know the area recognise the need for such a road to be built to improve our transport links in the Vale. 

"The community have been calling for the By-Pass for sometime and this is yet another really disappointing setback from the Welsh Government."

Last month it was announced that the Welsh Government had scrapped further funding for the Dinas Powys bypass, with some campaigners saying Westminster could fun the bypass.