Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

Welsh Conservatives blast suggestion of tolls for older cars on Wales’ roads

03 Sep 2021 2 minute read
M4 traffic at Port Talbot. Picture by Ben Salter (CC BY 2.0). Inset: Andrew RT Davies.

Conservatives have blasted a suggestion in a government survey that older cars could be asked to pay tolls on some Welsh roads.

The Welsh Government asked motorists for their views on paying to use parts of the M4 motorway and A470 in order to tackle air pollution, but say there are “currently no plans for congestion charges”.

The suggested tolls would be on the M4 around Newport and the A470 around Pontypridd, two of Wales’ busiest stretches of road, with prices ranging from £3 to £8 for petrol cars registered before 2006 and diesels plated before September 2015.

But Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters said: “To be clear there are no plans and there are no discussions about road charging. Our focus is on improving public transport, active travel and car sharing to give people real alternatives to driving.”

However, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Described it as a “kick in the teeth for hardworking people, and would hit the poorest in our society”.

He added that it was a “sure-fire way to continue to hold back the Welsh economy”.

Former Welsh Secretary and Vale of Glamorgan MP Aun Cairns said: “Having scrapped the Severn Tolls almost three years ago, I can’t believe that the Welsh Government are proposing options to toll the M4. Why are they so anti-commuter and anti-business?”

A Welsh government spokeswoman said that despite being included in the survey there were currently no plans for extra charges on Wales’ roads.

“In a separate piece of work, in line with our legal obligations to reduce harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide, we have commissioned surveys to gain people’s views on clean air zone proposals on the M4 between junctions 25 and 26 in Newport and on the A470 between Upper Boat and Pontypridd,” they added.


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

9 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dafydd Evans
Dafydd Evans
3 years ago

In reality hes more worried about the effect on cost of driving guzzing SUV’s than he is in the ordinary person….Some tough choices before us – keep going as we are and totally stuff it up for future generations or bite the bullet now and make the neccessary sacrifices. Getting rid of more polluting cars is obviously something that needs doing and doing urgently. What about air quality and health of those hard working people Mussolini?

Mawkernewek
3 years ago

I do have this worry, that big cities will get clear air zones with tolls for older cars, but other places will get all these old diesels on the second hand market that they don’t want.

Erisian
Erisian
3 years ago

I see rent-a-gob-sh**e has managed to get his face featured here again.
Was that inset neccessary?

Kerry Davies
Kerry Davies
3 years ago

BORIS JOHNSON FOR PAY-AS-YOU-GO CHARGES ON POLLUTING CARS

Measures would increase charges for higher-emitting vehicles. September 2014.

Johnson then delayed the Ultra Low Emission Zone for 8 years which, according to his own City Hall figures, killed 4,000 a year.

Shan Morgain
3 years ago

QUOTE A Welsh government spokeswoman said … there were currently no plans for extra charges on Wales’ roads. … Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters said: “To be clear there are no plans and there are no discussions about road charging.” Now what was that fuss about?

Stephen
Stephen
3 years ago

The Welsh Assembly Government is anti-business.

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
3 years ago
Reply to  Stephen

Obviously that isn’t the case and you know it, so what’s the point in writing it?

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
3 years ago
Reply to  Stephen

Firstly, get your facts right! The Welsh Assembly was abolished thankfully. It reverted back to its rightful name. Senedd Cymru or Welsh Parliament in 2020 after an absence of 600 yrs thanks to it being dissolved by the English crown. Democracy they or you know not of. And it’s only your opinion whether the Welsh Labour Government are anti-business. Others might differ, agree or disagree. My observation of you makes me think that you are not politically aware and have a very limited knowledge of your own country’s system of governance, which is a tad worrying as you have the… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by Y Cymro
Y Cymro
Y Cymro
3 years ago

Anything Andrew RT Davies says is like listening to white-noise. Remember, this is a man who thought Brexit was “breakfast” , who stated Wales needed a “big of Dom” referring to the exiled & scorned Dominic Cummins. and echoed his then Welsh Tory leader Paul Davies regarding “not stepping on Westminster’s turf by respecting what’s not devolved”, just before his master in Whitehall Boris Johnson drove his fat arse over our turf in his gas guzzling 4×4.

Last edited 3 years ago by Y Cymro

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.