Plaid Minister adds to confusion over Swansea bus station

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 10th Apr 2008

The Minister for Economy and Transport, Ieuan Wyn Jones, added to the confusion over whether the Labour-Plaid Cymru Welsh Government are prepared to fund a new bus station for Swansea yesterday, when he refused to agree to the Council using their Transport Grant allocation flexibly so as to get the project off the ground.

Mr. Jones was asked by the Swansea-based Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member, Peter Black, if he would make up for the poor Transport Grant settlement given to Swansea by allowing the Council to vire monies between projects so as to guarantee the funding for the bus station. The Administration is hoping to use the grant money together with European funds and private sector contributions to pay for the scheme.

Commenting on Mr. Jones' answer to his question, Mr. Black said, "Frankly, I was disappointed with the attitude of the Minister. It seems to me that this Labour-Plaid Cymru Government has done everything they can to block the development of a new bus station in Swansea. Instead of taking a can-do attitude and working to help the Council, they are continually putting obstacles in our way."

"It was always envisaged that the bus station would be paid for out of transport grant money but it is only recently, when the Council finally acquired the necessary land, that they have been able to proceed. The Assembly Government then put in place a proviso that there should be private sector funding, a hurdle which the Council jumped. Yet despite the fact that the private sector is on board, Ieuan Wyn Jones continues to refer to this so as to avoid answering a straight question with regards to his own commitment to the project."

"Either the Minister is badly briefed or he is deliberately obstructing the building of the bus station. Labour and Plaid Cymru need to come clean. Locally, they are shouting the odds about the need for this bus station but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is in Cardiff Bay, they are strangely absent."