ATTRACTING ECONOMIC INVESTMENT MUST NOT BE DETERRED BY UNCERTAIN COSTS FOR USING THE SEVERN BRIDGES  

20th September 2010

William Graham (Conservative AM for South Wales East) acknowledging the imminent announcement for the 2011 increase for the Severn Bridge tolls: 

“I share concerns that the decline in traffic using the Severn Crossings may mean it will be 2018 before they revert to public ownership. A total of £1.8bn needs to be collected in tolls (£995m at 1989 prices) to pay for the construction of the second bridge”. 

“It was forecast that this amount would be reached during 2016; but the decline in use has potentially deferred achieving this target until 2018”. 

“I understand that David Davies MP for Monmouth and the Chairman of the Welsh Affairs Committee has identified that the Government will be left with ‘significant’ maintenance costs for both bridges when they revert to public ownership”. 

“These costs must be quantified so that businesses can determine their on-going costs for transport. This information is vital to allow us to attract further economic investment into our region. This may be deterred if additional or unknown transport costs are to be levied against companies for which the Severn Bridges are a necessity”