MP’s fury at Minister’s sign refusal
A decision by the Welsh Assembly’s Transport Minister to refuse calls for a village hall sign to be sited on a busy trunk road has been met with fierce criticism by Monmouth’s MP.
David Davies hit out at Andrew Davies AM after he declined a request for installing a sign on the A4042 for Llanover Village Hall.
Members of the Sir John Herbert Memorial committee have been campaigning for signing for several months. The hall is not visible from the road and concerns have been raised that potential users have been unable to locate the premises.
When a subsequent application for signage to the Welsh Assembly was turned down, disappointed members approached their MP for help, who immediately wrote to Andrew Davies asking for the decision to be reversed.
But the Transport Minister once again ignored the request, stating such a sign could have ‘serious implications’ on driver safety.
In his reply, Andrew Davies said, “It is important that the Welsh Assembly Government adheres rigorously to its robust signing policy for signing on the motorway and trunk road network in Wales, where in doing so information to drivers remains pertinent and relevant.
“This is particularly so given the road alignment at Llanover and side roads that egress close by to each other on the A4042.
“Sign proliferation has serious driver safety implications that we cannot ignore and the request for signing must be declined. I know this is disappointing, but it is paramount we place driver safety first.”
David Davies, who is also AM for the area, said the decision was ‘unsympathetic’ and ‘unacceptable’ and vowed to continue to lobby the Transport Minister on the issue.
“Whilst agreeing that driver safety is paramount, I consider that such a sign would improve safety through Llanover,” he said.
“I have checked the area and the only other sign I have seen indicates where the estate office is. I cannot accept, therefore, that a sign for the hall would constitute a proliferation.
“When Peter Law (AM MP for Blaenau Gwent) was the Assembly’s Transport Minister, he was sympathetic to the problems in Llanover and I sincerely hope that Andrew Davies will give sympathetic consideration to reviewing this refusal for a sign.”