Will the Minister make a statement on the progress being made on a new major routes fund for the road network in Wales?
Climate change and the nature emergency (biodiversity) are high on the agenda for Welsh Government. Our Green Corridors initiative puts biodiversity at the centre of managing our strategic road network and we are planting wildflowers on our road verges, undertaking tree planting and creating and restoring habitats whilst considering the needs of native species.
However, we plan to take this further to realise a vision that road journey experiences and local environments will be improved through creating and enhancing beautiful, natural landscapes and contributing to a sense of place, making Wales a world class, sustainable tourist destination.
In the recently-published Wales Transport Strategy, we committed to examining and resetting our approach to biodiversity and are currently producing our own Biodiversity Plan. This will build on the existing trunk road estate Biodiversity Action Plan (TreBAP) and will aim to further embed biodiversity and climate change resilience in our decision-making and actions.
Included in the terms of reference of our current roads review is the objective to ensure road investment is fully aligned to the delivery of Wales Transport Strategy ambitions and priorities, the Programme for Government commitments and to the forthcoming second low carbon delivery plan Net Zero Wales.