* Please note, our next quarterly meeting will be in March *
Hello Everyone,
In my previous quarterly post, I mentioned that there had been a disparity of views on the wording of a motion put to Monmouthshire County Council, last June, by Cllr. Frances Taylor and an amendment proposed by Cllr. Maby which was supported by Councillors Crook and Sandles. Investigations identified that, put very simply, the difference was that Councillor Maby’s amendment proposal was that the ‘Magor’ delivery timeframe should adhere to the overall Burns Delivery plan whereas MAGOR’s view, which was reflected in Cllr. Taylor’s motion, is that ‘Magor’ should be the priority. At a special MAGOR meeting towards the end of November, it was agreed that as Cllrs Crook and Sandles views didn’t appear to align with MAGOR’s imperative and as coopted members of the group they be asked to step down. Laurence Hando the Group’s Chair relayed that information to them in letters and thanked them both for their efforts and assistance over the years.
During the ‘investigation’, Cllr. Taylor, with the help of Debra Hill-Howells (a senior officer in MCC), identified a range of communnications between MCC and various bodies since the motion was passed. In summary, the communications confirmed a mixture of positives and negatives with regard to the delivery of Magor & Undy Walkway Station as follows –
Good points –
- MCC has written to all parties (TfW, NR, DfT) pressing for Magor, with its uniqueness, to be the first amongst equals and delivered first
- All parties have responded
- Designs, layout and broad timeframes laid out (between 3 and 10 years)
- Possible train services identified
- Next steps
Less encouraging points –
- All responses emphasise a totality of the project (i.e. it must be all stations and relief line upgrade)
- ‘Magor’ is recognised as the cheapest station but they believe it has the least demand
- No real indication that they will aim to build Magor first
- No indication if the ‘at least £445 million’ is anywhere near enough to complete the whole range of requirements identified by Transport for Wales and Welsh government.
So, in the last year, there has been confirmation that ‘Magor’ is to be delivered and that a significant amount of money has been identified for the projects, even if timeframes and the full funding requirements are less than clear.
Hopefully we’ll get better clarity in 2026!
Happy New Year
Paul
Supporting organisations –
