North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has today challenged the Deputy Minister for Climate Change over Welsh Government aspirations to reopen Holywell Junction Railway Station in Greenfield.
In this afternoon’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood called for an update from the Deputy Minister on action to date and was disappointed to learn that since 2019, they have only ‘taken steps to fund the first stages of the development of a business case’ for re-opening the Station.
Mr Isherwood also asked about the Deeside Park and Shotton Railway Stations.
Speaking in the Senedd Chamber, he said:
“In response to a Written Question four years ago, the then Minister for Economy and Transport stated that 'The Welsh Government has established a 3-stage new station assessment process’ to ‘ensure a pipeline of new schemes is available to take advantage of future funding opportunities from UK Government', and that Holywell Junction Station in Greenfield had been added to the list of potential new stations.
“In response to a Written Question I received from you this week, you referred to the Welsh Government's ‘aspiration of reopening the Station should funding become available from the UK Government’, adding, 'In the meantime, we are focusing our resources on getting the most from existing infrastructure, an approach supported by the North Wales Transport Commission in their interim report’. However, their interim report also includes support for the creation of a new Station at Deeside Industrial Park, and work to make Shotton Station an important interchange.
“What further action has therefore been taken regarding Greenfield Station in the four years since I first raised this, and what is your current understanding of the position with Deeside Park and Shotton Stations?
In his response, the Deputy Minister said:
“We have taken steps to fund the first stages of the development of a business case in order to protect our aspiration for re-opening the Holywell Greenfield Station should station funding become available. But, as he said at the beginning of this question, it's 'where opportunities for funding become available’ Well, they don't very often become available, and that is our problem.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said:
“So, despite a 3-stage ‘station assessment process’ established by the Welsh Government in 2019, they have only ‘taken steps to fund the first stages of the development of a business case’ for reopening Holywell Greenfield Station. His response also failed to mention Deeside Park and Shotton Stations.”.