Pressure grows on council to spell out bypass plans for gridlocked town

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

A call has been made for a council to set out how a bypass for a gridlocked town could be developed. 

Chepstow grinds to a halt with traffic snaking through the town and crossing the border with England, along the A48, as well as vehicles heading over the first Severn Bridge on the M48. 

Calls for a relief road, on the English bank of the river Wye south of Sedbury, were given new impetus after Forest of Dean MP Matt Bishop said he would be willing to look at proposals for what’s been called a Forest Gateway Road that would connect with Chepstow at the Bulwark and via a new crossing south of the existing A48 bridge over the Wye. 

Councillors representing Chepstow have appeared divided however with Conservative members supporting the bypass scheme the council had pushed when it was under Tory control while Labour members favour a new bridge over the Severn between Lydney and Sharpness, in Gloucestershire, which Monmouthshire MP Catherine Fookes and her Labour colleague Mr Bishop have previously raised with the UK Government. 

Monmouthshire councillors will now be asked to “reaffirm that addressing the traffic congestion in and around Chepstow remains a strategic transport priority” for the county council. 

Chepstow Mount Pleasant councillor Paul Pavia is bringing the motion to the full council’s Thursday, January 22 meeting which also asks that members request the council’s Labour and Green Party cabinet update them on the suggested bypass, or relief road, and how it could be funded. 

Any a new road would need funding support from the UK Government and Cllr Pavia’s motion acknowledges Monmouthshire County Council and the Welsh Government “have important roles in cross-border partnership working and scheme development”. 

The Conservative councillor’s motion would also require the full council to have the opportunity to debate and make recommendations to the cabinet on how the council could “progress infrastructure projects” with the motion stating , “rather than the matter being deferred or allowed to stall further”. 

If the motion is accepted the cabinet will be required to bring a report to the council setting out the current status or previous committments made in support of a bypass, which then Conservative controlled Monmouthshire had agreed to jointly fund a business case for with Gloucestershire in early 2022. 

The report would also set out available options for funding and progressing the next assessment phase for a bypass and a clear timetable for engagement and decision-making with Gloucestershire County Council, the Welsh and UK governments and partners including MPs.