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10.16 pm
Mr. Elfyn Llwyd (Meirionnydd Nant Conwy): May I, first, use this opportunity to congratulate the Minister sincerely on his appointment? I do so in the confidence that he will wish to do his utmost to carry out his duties to the best of his considerable ability. I believe that, by unblocking the conundrum that I shall shortly unfold to the House, he will have a golden opportunity to do that. I hope that he will grasp that opportunity and really make a name for himself.
This morning, I had an opportunity to consult "The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary." The word "temporary" is defined as
I am pleased to have an opportunity to discuss this matter. It is not trivial; it means a lot to many thousands of people in Wales and certainly a large proportion of my constituency. The traffic lights concerned, on the A494 at Drws y Nant--yes, Hansard, I will send up a copy of my speech--are temporary traffic lights, according to the Welsh Office. In fact, they have been in place for more than 18 years and may yet become the subject of a comic opera. That may sound a little far-fetched; indeed, if it were not such a serious matter, it would be quite funny. In reality, it is anything but funny for thousands of people day in, day out.
It might help the Minister if I am permitted to give a brief chronology of the matter. The lights were installed in 1979, on boxing day, because the road was considered unsafe and prone to subsidence, posing a possible danger to road users. The road was therefore closed 20 years ago for "urgent" repairs.
To be absolutely fair, however, the stretch of road is not the easiest to repair because, on one side, there is a steep drop and, on the other, there is steep and rocky terrain. None the less, over the past few years far more difficult engineering feats have been accomplished in north and mid-Wales, and there is no question but that, given the necessary will, the situation could readily be remedied.
From 1979 to 1986, many individuals, councils and societies regularly wrote to the Welsh Office pointing out the inherent dangers in allowing the road to be used as it was being used, albeit temporary traffic lights and a one-way system had been installed. Over the years, there have been numerous very serious accidents at the spot, which is so narrow that a collision will almost inevitably result if a bus or lorry meets another vehicle on a bend. Many very experienced drivers have been involved in very serious collisions on that road.
I travelled the road from my home to my office almost every day from 1979 until I was elected as Member of Parliament, and I can vouch for the inherent danger of the current system. Moreover, on countless occasions I have
had to wait in traffic jams, some lasting as long as one hour, as two vehicles attempted to manoeuvre past one another without colliding with each other, the rock face or the wall. If one of the vehicles is in a hurry, nothing short of a calamity will occur.
When I was in legal practice, I often arrived late for court appearances because of the state of the road. I am making, however, not a personal plea but a plea on behalf of many thousands of people in my constituency. The current situation is dangerous because, as people are released from the traffic jam, their normal tendency is to exceed the speed limit to make up time, thereby causing a knock-on effect and danger to all road users.
My predecessor in the House, Dr. Dafydd Elis Thomas, who is now in the other place, assiduously pursued the problem in attempting to persuade the Welsh Office to attach due priority to a solution. The former Gwynedd county council regularly made representations to the Welsh Office, as did--to give but a few examples--Bala town council, Brithdir and Llanfrchrath community council, Dolgellau town council, Llanuwchllwn community council, Meirionnydd district council, the Farmers Union of Wales and the National Farmers Union of England and Wales. The correspondence file is huge, and it confirms the priority that at least the people of Meirionnydd attach to the matter even if, hitherto, the Welsh Office has not.
In October 1987, the then Minister of State at the Welsh Office responded to an inquiry from my predecessor, stating that a solution would be a matter of prioritising schemes within the Welsh Office budget. He also stated that it would be unrealistic to expect improvements until sometime in "the early 1990s".
In January 1988, in a letter to Mr. John Dyer James, the county secretary of the Farmers Union of Wales, the director of highways wrote:
In January 1990, the director of highways at the Welsh Office responded to a letter from a local county councillor, Miss Gwenfon Hughes, who has assiduously pursued the matter. The reply to her letter took from 12 October to 30 January, which, one might think, was not a very good start. The letter stated:
In March 1990, interim measures to improve the situation were ruled out on the ground of cost. In the meantime, the Welsh Office attempted to justify its non-activity by saying that traffic numbers were low. Nothing could be further from the truth. The A494 is one of the arterial roads carrying holidaymakers from Manchester, Liverpool and the midlands to various seaside resorts in the constituency, such as Barmouth and Tywyn. It is a very busy road all year round. It serves two cattle marts, one each end of the route, and those cattle marts are convened at least once a week and sometimes twice.
In 1991, the line adopted by the Welsh Office was that
In May 1991, the then Secretary of State for Wales, David Hunt, in a markedly helpful response to a Conservative opponent of mine said:
Regular correspondence continued and the start date slipped again from 1994 to the mid-1990s. According to parliamentary answers, work would commence in 1994, subject to the satisfactory completion of our old friend the statutory procedures. As a lawyer, I can tell the House that those procedures take very little time if one applies a little common sense and gets on with the job in hand. I have been able to do the job in a matter of months or weeks, so I cannot see why the Welsh Office could not do it.
Another excuse was introduced, this time the availability of finance. A parliamentary answer was given on 1 February 1993 bringing in the new excuse. In an answer in January 1994, it was said that draft orders for the scheme were due to be published in the spring and that commencement of the work was dependent on satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures. Again, the answer referred to finance. That was cold comfort for those having to use this dangerous route every day.
In March 1994, for example, a lorry driver was badly injured. His legs were trapped and he was stuck in his cab for many hours. That was one of several serious accidents over the years. The man was a local lorry driver and he knew the risks, but the on-coming lorry driver did not, hence the collision. I sent details to the Welsh Office and received, in April 1994, a response from the then Minister of State, who said:
In January 1996, the new Minister of State said that the work was programmed to start in 1997, subject to our old friend the statutory procedures and, again, the availability of finance. Since then, the Drws y Nant pressure group has been set up. It has been most effective due to the good offices of Mr. Trebor Roberts JP, the chair, and Mrs. Bailey, the honorary secretary.
I understand that the scheme is now in the reserve programme for the financial year 1997-98. Therefore, it will not be started until 1998 at the earliest. The temporary traffic lights are already in the "The Guinness Book of Records". I am always pleased when my constituency is mentioned, but I am not so happy about that reference.
The last letter that I received from the former Minister of State at the Welsh Office, Mr. Gwilym Jones, stated:
Not to put too fine a point on it, the whole story is a farce from beginning to end. It is appalling, not least because of the facts that I have set out. Incidentally, the annual cost of hiring the lights is more than £1,800.
The danger is increasing due to heavier traffic and the deterioration of the road. This summer, Bala--which is my home area and the cradle of Welsh culture--will host the national eisteddfod, which I am sure the Minister will attend. Between 120,000 and 150,000 people visit that festival, and no doubt a number of them will have to tackle this obstacle.
The eisteddfod is held in August, when holiday traffic is at its heaviest. In the name of reason I call on the Minister to give me an unqualified assurance that the work will be carried out because it is simply a matter of time before there is a fatal accident. There have already been many serious accidents in which people have been maimed for life. It will be no comfort to me to say, "I told you so" if and when someone is killed.
Furthermore, the obstacle is undoubtedly hampering the area in terms of inward investment and must surely be offputting to tourists. Wholesalers to retail premises in Dolgellau and the south of the constituency are generally not prepared to send large lorries to Dolgellau and Bala and frequently opt for two smaller ones, thereby increasing the cost of delivery. The knock-on effect is clear: retailers have to pay more for the goods with obvious results.
It is high time that real action is taken. Although the present Government have been in office for only a few weeks, they tell us that it is now time to act. Let us have
action without any further prevarication or delay. I know the Minister to be an honourable man, so I trust that he will respond accordingly, because fairness and common sense demand it.
"Lasting or meant to last for a limited time only; not permanent; made or arranged to supply a passing need."
The dictionary continues:
"Things belonging to this life, temporal goods."
That is probably a better definition in the context of the appalling story of the A494.
"The design work highlighted problems and an assessment of alternative routes has been carried out. The results of that exercise are being studied and we would hope to undertake some improvement as soon as we can, although it would be unwise to anticipate that work could commence before the early 1990s."
That is the line that was adopted. Correspondence continued with individuals, councillors, my predecessor and many other people.
"We are, however, hoping to complete our evaluation of the option at Drws-y-Nant, for example whether there should be on-line improvement or a new alignment in the near future, and then to get on with the detailed design work."
The letter goes on to state that the officer concerned is
"afraid the scheme is unlikely to start before the early 1990s and even if the statutory procedures can be satisfactorily completed and funds are available work could not start before late 1992 at the earliest."
On 7 February that year, another Welsh Office employee wrote, in response to the very same letter from the very same county councillor, that it would not be sooner than the mid-1990s before the work could commence. In the space of seven days, from 30 January to 7 February 1990, the commencement time slipped three
years. People think that "Yes Minister" was far-fetched. Was that response reasonable? It was not, in my view, a reasonable way in which to deal with an inquiry.
"allowing for the completion of statutory procedures, the possibility of a public inquiry and the time that will be required to complete the detailed design of the scheme, a start of works is unlikely for several years."
It was implied that the statutory procedures and the detailed design would take some time. The Welsh Office had already had 16 years to carry that work out and one wonders how much longer it really required.
"On present estimates the work will cost some £1.6 million".
I wonder how much the work would have cost 17 years ago. The letter continued:
"and statutory procedures will be started in 1993 to enable the work itself to begin in March 1994."
The letter was heralded by my Conservative opponent as a real breakthrough, although he did not make a breakthrough at the election.
"Subject to statutory procedures and draft orders, we hope to start the works in 1995-6."
That was a further two years' slippage.
"The improvement is included in the medium schemes programme and albeit it awaits the availability of funds it continues to remain a high priority. Statutory procedures are complete, orders have been made and tender documents have been prepared and are ready for issue.
I suppose there is some hope, but I found that letter quite ominous and I wonder whether I read it correctly. If so, after all the years of patience and dozens of serious accidents, is the Welsh Office seriously suggesting in the second paragraph of that letter that
In the house on 12 December 1996, the Secretary of State announced the Welsh Office budget of £6.9 billion and explained his spending plans".
"maintenance of the existing network"
will preclude the commencement of work on the scheme? That is absolutely unacceptable after such a long delay.
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