BUSINESS leaders say a new “common sense approach” to the default 20 mph speed limit and road schemes will boost the economy.

According to Business Professionals, the plan unveiled by Ken Skates, the Welsh Government’s new Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport was potentially a “game changer”.

Mr Skates, who is also the Senedd Member for Clwyd South, outlined his vision at a meeting of the group that’s made up of successful businesses and skilled professionals working together to promote regional prosperity and shine a light on the enterprise and expertise that exists in the region.

The process of reverting some roads from the 20 mph limit will begin in September and Mr Skates has urged people to contact local councils to tell them where they think this should happen.

He also revealed his commitment to resurrect a plan to restructure the log jammed A494 and A55 dual carriageways taking traffic to and from the M56 along the Flintshire corridor.

Wrexham Business Professionals committee member Ian Edwards, who chaired the event, said: “This is a significant step forward for the growth prospects of the North Wales economy.

“We welcome the change of direction which Ken Skates’s appointment brings. Since becoming an MS he has proven to be a determined and hard worker on behalf of his constituents here in North Wales and in Wales as a whole.

“His appointment has been a breath of fresh air and we are impressed that he is taking a measured and pragmatic approach to the 20mph dilemma.

“It has had a serious, direct impact on the livelihoods of numerous small businesses, particularly those whose profit margins and business reputations rely on being able to get from A to B within set timeframes.

“We’re also extremely pleased to hear that key highways improvements in Wrexham and Flintshire areas could soon be back on the table.

“We especially appreciate Mr Skates having chosen our meeting to confirm that the long talked about upgrade of the Flintshire Corridor at the gateway to North Wales is back on the agenda.

“In addition, he’s committed to finding a desperately needed solution for the Aston Hill bottleneck at Deeside.

“It is not the first time Mr Skates has spoken at a Wrexham Business Professionals event and whenever he has there has always been a sense that he genuinely is listening to our views.

“It is a real sign of hope that we may finally see some much needed progress on the roads and transport front in North Wales.”

Mr Edward said poor road links and ineffective public transport services around Wrexham and Flintshire were at the forefront of any entrepreneur’s mind when considering expanding existing operations or setting up new businesses in the area.

He said: “The current gridlock of the A55 and A494 and its links to the M56 is hindering the entire region’s economic growth prospects.

“We cannot stress how important an issue this is to the business world and the creation of new jobs for the local economy.”

Mr Skates told the meeting he accepted that in some areas the lower limit was simply not working and he would be consulting with local authorities and all sections of the affected communities to look at restoring a 30mph limit where there was a consensus in favour of it.

But he insists that the 20mph policy has been a huge success in other areas, making roads safer and protecting lives, especially near schools, hospitals and in residential estates.

He said: “The truth is that this has worked. In many areas 20mph is the safest and most sensible option. To simply reinstate 30mph across the board would be a travesty in these situations. That is not what I am advocating.

“But we do need to revise and refine the policy, which is something we always said would be done after a period of time had passed and we had been able to assess how well it was working. We need to make revisions with humility and compassion and accept that on some roads the 20mph limit is not proving to be appropriate.”

On the Flintshire corridor and the creation of a more efficient trunk roads network in North Wales he said there was a lot of work to be done, though progress could be slowed by the transport department’s ever tightening budget.

Mr Skates had been critical of the decision to scrap the so-called Red Route £300 million scheme which would have seen the construction of a new eight-mile dual carriageway, linking the A55 at Northop with the A494 and A550 north of Deeside Parkway Junction via the Flintshire Bridge.

An all-Wales review of planned road schemes saw it shelved along with other North Wales highways improvements which had long been in the pipeline including a third Menai Crossing to Anglesey.

Mr Skates said the A55 at Deeside was outdated and a formidable air pollution hazard for nearby communities, adding: “It was never designed to take the enormous modern day traffic volumes it now handles.”

He promised Wrexham Business Professionals that he is determined a new scheme will be drawn up and implemented but it would be done in the most sustainable way possible, making use of the latest roads construction technology and using design features to minimise air pollution in the surrounding landscape.”

The other guest speaker at the meeting was Professor Dylan Jones-Evans who said the global celebrity status of Wrexham AFC has given the city a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure unprecedented economic growth.

He said the impact of the club’s superstar owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, had been hugely positive but that local leaders must now invest significantly in home-grown businesses and incoming innovators to make the most of Wrexham’s higher profile.

Louise Harper, who is also a committee member of Wrexham Business Professionals, was grateful to both the speakers for their contributions.

She said: “There were huge positives in what both Ken Skate and Dylan Jones-Evans told us and it all bodes well as we look forward to a more prosperous future in this part of Wales.”

AN ONLINE plea to save a Pembrokeshire day centre from being closed has been lodged with the county council.

The Anchorage Day Care Centre in Pembroke Dock has been a “safe and happy place” for adults with learning difficulties and additional needs for decades.

In more recent years it has expanded to support elderly dementia sufferers.

But now the centre is expected to close, with services instead being offered elsewhere in the county, including Haverfordwest and Milford Haven.

A series of engagement events have taken place at The Anchorage recently, outlining the reasons and the options in continued service.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The parents and carers are all very upset at the way we have been treated, kept in the dark and then presented with what is a fait accompli to close the Anchorage, while at the same time going through the motions of a ‘consultation’ with us.

“The clients at The Anchorage have friendships with each other and staff going back decades in some cases.

“One young woman who attends ran out of the first meeting sobbing when she was told it was going to close. Another, at the second meeting, tried to address the meeting but was so chocked up at the thought of not seeing her friends anymore she could hardly speak.”

She added: “The Anchorage has been a respite in the day for parents and a safe, happy place for the clients.

“Everyone feels that the county council is not considering the feelings of the clients, most of whom are upset and frightened by change to their routine.”

Another person raising concerns said: “The centre is set to close as early as next month – meaning the sudden retraction of a service which, for many families in the area, is nothing short of a lifeline.

“I’m not sure PCC understand the gravity of the impact that closing the centre will have on the lives of many people, particularly the customers, some of whom may not understand or cope well with such a total upheaval of the familiarity of their daily routine.

“It’s so upsetting that the people who will be most affected by the closure of the centre are as much a part of the Pembrokeshire community as anybody else that the council claims to represent, and yet in this decision, I feel they’re not being seen as such.”

Since then, an online e-petition, on the council’s own website has been launched calling for it to stay open.

It says: “The centre provides day-care support to a number of vulnerable adults with varying levels of disability who are unable to process, and understand, the implications of such a decision.

“Some of those attending the centre have been doing so for over 20 years and continuity is a vital part of their lives. Removing this service will have nothing other than a huge detrimental impact on their health and mental wellbeing.”

The petition has attracted 284 signatures to date.

A Pembrokeshire County Council spokesman said: “Following the engagement sessions held with families and service users regarding the future of the centre on April 10 and 17 at the Anchorage, families said that they would like to maintain the Anchorage Day Centre and explained that they would write to the council in order to ask for the decision to be overturned.

“People who attend the service will be offered alternative care, all service users are currently having their individual care needs assessed by social work teams to fully understand which other services best meet those care needs.”

A ‘CALL-IN’ on the recently-awarded contract for the second stage of Haverfordwest’s near-£19m transport interchange is to be heard next week.

The second stage of building Haverfordwest’s transport interchange was backed by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet last week, with members hearing it could cost the council more to not support it.

The transport interchange, which includes an integrated bus station and construction of a new multi-storey car park, is part of a wider series of regeneration projects in the county town.

The total cost of the Welsh Government grant-supported scheme in the approved budget is £18.881m, £1.987m from Pembrokeshire County Council.

At the April Cabinet meeting, a report for members warned that if the scheme was not backed: “It is envisaged Welsh Government will withdraw the funding awarded and the council would need to repay grants received to date; £10.322m has been received to date of which £3.376m has been offset against expenditure.”

It added: “Cost to cease this project could cost PCC more in terms of grant repayment and any capital work required to make good. PCC match contribution for the project is forecast as £1.987m of the £18.881m.”

It is expected parking revenue would “at least double” 2019 figures following an increase in charges.

Since that meeting, the council’s Welsh Conservative group, led by Cllr Di Clements – who hopes to become the new council leader at its May 10 meeting – has successfully ‘called in’ the decision.

Essentially, this means the award of the contract has been paused, with a special meeting of the council’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee due to be held on May 7 to discuss the matter.

In a ‘call-in’ letter, the Welsh Conservative group said: “This decision deserves full and proper scrutiny at committee level, as it appears that the Cabinet only focused on some elements of the scheme in their meeting, while the private documents provided to members tell quite a different story.”

The letter added: “You will agree that when spending such a large amount of public money, openness, honesty and transparency is key, and we owe it to the people of Pembrokeshire to demonstrate that when agreeing to this project.

“In the Cabinet meeting on April 22, there was little discussion on how the value engineering of this project will affect the project overall and therefore the group are concerned that the project has been changed to such an extent that it may require to be re-tendered at the new specification.

“Additionally, Cabinet members focused on this project being income generating, however, they are basing the feasibility and income generation of this site on 2019 figures.

“As a group, we believe that further financial feasibility studies should be done based on the last financial year’s more realistic figures as it is widely accepted that the way members of the public shop, particularly in town centres, has altered dramatically since Covid-19.”