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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
1.1 Everyone was welcomed to the meeting.
2.1 Apologies for absence were received from: • Councillor Angela Davies (Powys County Council) • Chris Wilson (Ceredigion County Council) • Katy Spain (Ceredigion County Council) • Sarah Leyland-Morgan (Powys County Council)
3.1 There were no declarations of interest.
4.1 The minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting. Proposed by SC and seconded by JC. Matters arising: 4.2 Regarding the revised Recommendation 2 “The CJC RTP Sub Committee give delegated authority for Officers to prepare a written response for the Chair to send back to the Cabinet Secretary in response to the letter dated 17 October 2025, that asks for clarification on the points that were raised during this meeting and outlines any additionality we can”: We have not yet received a reply from the Minister. ACTION: It was agreed to write a follow up letter to chase this up.
5.1 Tom Lewis, the new Regional Transport Programme Manager for Mid Wales, was welcomed to the meeting, and he introduced himself in his new role. 5.2 TM summarised the background to the Mid Wales Regional Transport Delivery Plan, and the Year 1 Regional Transport Fund programme for 2026/27. He noted it is a pivotal moment for the region as we move forward from planning into delivery. 5.3 Since the last meeting, the draft programme had been submitted to Welsh Government at the end of November for feedback. That feedback had arrived just before Christmas and with no major issues being highlighted. All schemes were provisionally approved, deemed to be appropriate, and were rated either Green or Amber under WG’s Red/Amber/Green risk rating. WG had also requested some further information, some of which must be included by 30 January, with the rest by the end of March or, for some schemes, into the next financial year. 5.4 Both Authorities had met with Welsh Government officials in the last week in what was a very productive meeting, and further meetings with subject specialists were scheduled for the coming week to confirm details ahead of submission. Local Authority Officers, along with WSP, were adding the required material into the relevant annexes ready for submission and were on track to meet the deadline. Welsh Government has reiterated concerns about our capacity to deliver the uplifted programme and we have submitted a resource plan and provided reassurances which have been viewed positively. 5.5 Welsh Government has confirmed a significant uplift provisionally of £12.8m capital in in 2026/27 and £172k in revenue. We have prioritised these schemes using Transport for Wales’s RTDP prioritisation tool, assessing impacts against our objectives and deliverability. This means that Year 1 focuses on projects that are ready to go, aligned with Welsh Government policy and outcomes, and provide a balanced programme across Powys and Ceredigion. We have also considered resource availability, dependencies and risk management to ensure a robust and realistic programme. 5.6 The recommendation from the report (as set out under Item 6 below) was summarised and the meeting was opened up to questions. 5.7 The Chair thanked TL for his report, and welcomed the news that all the projects were considered by WG to be at the Green or Amber level. It was disappointing, however, that WG had questioned about our ability to deliver, because past projects in both Powys and Ceredigion have shown that we are adept at delivering large capital schemes in our region. He added that a recent open day for an Active Travel scheme consultation in the region had attracted very high numbers and shows that there is a significantly high level of interest from the public towards transport improvement schemes. 5.8 JC also noted disappointment that WG had questioned our ability to deliver, however it is the right amount of money to deliver good projects across both of the Local Authorities, and we have confidence that we can deliver this and hopefully be able to deliver more in the following year and the years after. There are conversations needed about how it is shared out, but that is between the Local Authorities and not up to WG to have input on. She agreed that there is a lot of interest from the public, who are passionate about local transport and improvements to the transport network – to improve the local economies and drive down carbon emissions that are a problem from excessive car use and not having the public transport routes that we would like. 5.9 It was also noted that Mid Wales attracts a lot of tourists, and the transport network needs to be sufficiently equipped to handle the extra volume in summer.
6.1 It was confirmed that the meeting was quorate for a vote. 6.2 Recommendation: Subject to any amendments requested by the Sub-Committee and delegated to officers on its behalf, approval is sought to endorse the Mid Wales Corporate Joint Committee Regional Transport Delivery Plan and RTF Year 1 2026/27 Programme in advance of the Welsh Government submission deadline of 30 January 2026. Officers should be delegated authority to complete a final version of the MWRTDP and Year 1 RTF Programme, in line with Welsh Government recommendations to secure funding. (It is noted that no substantive changes to the approved programme are proposed and Welsh Government officials have raised no concerns around the projects proposed; the delegated authority is strictly confined to the provision of supplementary information necessary to secure Welsh Government acceptance of both the MWRTDP and the Year 1 RTF Programme). Vote taken. SC proposed and JC seconded. All Members voted to agree the proposal. The recommendation was therefore agreed.
7.1 Councillor GP announced some very good, and exciting news for the region – In 2027 Powys would host the third stage of the Tour de France, starting in Welshpool. 7.2 JC placed this good news in context with the Regional Transport Plan. The event would increase visitor numbers across the next two years, and particularly in 2027. She hoped that officers could work together to see if all the points in the Regional Transport Plan actually provide us with the infrastructure that we are going to need, and how we might want to discuss that as we go forward. GP endorsed these words, and stated that although it is coming to Powys, he was sure it would have a long-lasting impact for the region and across Wales as well. 7.3 The Chair welcomed this as being great news for the region. He noted that it is a very large event and will bring a large number of people into Mid Wales, which will be very good for the local economy. He wondered about what WG’s plans might be for improving the routes – was that going to come back to Local Authorities to foot the bill? GP stated that we are fortunate in that most of the route is on the Trunk Roads, so it will not fall directly on Powys as a Local Authority, but there would be a part to play – including in volume of local visitors and how we get them in. 7.4 There are two other big, international events coming to Powys in 2027 – the Enduro motocross motorcycle world championships and the Eisteddfod. JC was keen that we ensure through the RTP that the infrastructure in place is appropriate for the level of interest that we are going to get – and that there is a legacy afterwards of that public transport infrastructure. We want to ensure that the increase in visitors does not increase the level of carbon emissions, and that people can get around in a green way – but we can’t promise that unless we get the infrastructure in place. We have an opportunity to make a case to Welsh Government to express upon them that the investment they are putting in is going to go to good use to ensure the success and lasting legacy of these international, world-challenging events.
8.1 The submission is going in on 30 January, and we do not have a definitive date to hear back from WG, though it was expected this would be in March. We also need to be mindful of the pre-election period. 8.2 ACTION: It was agreed that the officers would keep an eye on this and arrange the next meeting subsequent to the response date (when known) and before the pre-election period.
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