…Researched and contributed by Lola Smith.
The Welsh Government has faced criticism for spending £24.6 million on 38 properties along the planned £150 million M4 relief road, which was later scrapped.
As a result, 31 properties with a combined value of approximately £22 million have remained unsold, while the government sold seven for £2.1 million.
The properties are located around Newport in South Wales, mainly in the community of Coedkernew.
The scrapping of the M4 relief road between Junctions 23 and 29, which had already cost £150 million in planning, was one of the most controversial decisions of Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford’s tenure.
Budweiser and other local business leaders had hoped the 14-mile stretch of relief road would provide a boost to the local Welsh economy.
However, Mr Drakeford argued that there was no “compelling case in the public interest” to build the new motorway.
The route would have bypassed many small communities on the periphery of Newport, including Coedkernew, Nash and Mager.
The heavily industrialised area has faced fly-tipping issues in recent years, with a stretch of abandoned dual carriageway near Coedkernew earning the nickname “The Road to Nowhere” after 1,800 fly-tipped tyres were removed in a major clear-up operation last year.
The fact that so many of the houses bought by compulsory purchase sit empty years later has angered many people in Wales, including the Conservative opposition.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister Natasha Asghar called the Labour government in Wales “an out of touch band of incompetent socialists in Cardiff Bay who frankly couldn’t run a bath, let alone the sale and resale of commercial properties”.
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said that they are “working with the local authority to establish if any of the properties along the route are suitable for social housing schemes.
If any of the properties are deemed not suitable for housing, we will consider selling them.”
This story highlights the potential consequences of investing significant sums of taxpayer money in infrastructure projects that ultimately fail to materialize.
While it remains unclear what the Welsh Government plans to do with the unsold properties along the abandoned M4 relief road route, it is clear that the situation has angered many people who feel that the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
The abandonment of the relief road has also highlighted the need for careful consideration and thorough planning when embarking on large-scale infrastructure projects.