Regional transport plans in Wales: the first year of delivery.

What has changed

The regional transport plans set out how local transport authorities will implement Llwybr Newydd, the Wales Transport Strategy, over the next five years. They were approved in October 2025, and reports at the time noted that several transport funding streams would be combined into a single regional fund from April 2026. The Corporate Joint Committees are responsible for managing and monitoring their plans, and each received a management award for 2026 to 2027.

In North Wales, Ambition North Wales describes the plan as running to 2030, with local authorities beginning delivery in April 2026 and monitoring led by its transport sub-committee. In Mid Wales, the Welsh Government's approval released just over £13 million, mostly capital, for schemes in Ceredigion and Powys.

Schemes funded for 2026 to 2027

The grant awards are organised by region and by theme: road safety, walking, wheeling and cycling, public transport, ultra low emission vehicles and highways. Among the larger allocations listed are:

• South East Wales: the Newport Road sustainable travel corridor in Cardiff, Caerphilly Interchange, and an active travel bridge and links at Abergavenny and Llanfoist.
• South West Wales: a public transport interchange at Milford Haven, and the Tawe Riverside Path in Swansea.
• North Wales: the Mold Road active travel corridor in Wrexham, and promenade improvements at Colwyn Bay.
• Mid Wales: the Brecon High Street scheme and a safety improvement in Ceredigion.

A number of allocations fund feasibility, scheme development and design rather than construction, and several schemes are phased.

Relevance to development

The regional plans do not replace Planning Policy Wales, TAN 18 or local development plan policies. They are, however, a material part of the transport context against which proposals are considered. In our view they are relevant in three ways.

1. Accessibility. A funded active travel corridor or interchange near a site can be relevant to how its accessibility is assessed, provided delivery is reasonably certain.
2. Mitigation. Development-related improvements are more persuasive where they connect to, or complement, schemes in the regional programme.
3. Contributions. Where a contribution is sought towards a scheme, its position in the regional programme helps establish whether it is identified, costed and likely to proceed.

Points to note

The plans were approved in October 2025 and the grant awards published in March 2026, so this is less a new policy than the first year of its delivery. Funding is awarded annually, and an allocation for scheme development is not a commitment to construction. Reliance on a regional scheme in a transport assessment should reflect its actual stage.

The South East Wales plan was reported at approval to include policies on road user charging and an investigation of workplace parking levies. Those are matters for future decisions and should not be assumed in assessments until progressed.

Practical points

• Identify the relevant regional plan and the schemes near a site at the outset.
• Check the stage and funding of any scheme relied on, using the current year's grant awards.
• Align mitigation with regional priorities where that is consistent with the development's own impacts.
• Engage the Corporate Joint Committee and the local authority where a site depends on, or could contribute to, a regional scheme.