MONMOUTHSHIRE council will continue to support a new motorway link to Severn Tunnel Junction, despite a Welsh Government-backed panel rejecting the plans.

The government's Roads Review has caused controversy in many parts of Wales in recent months, and a report by the review panel this month recommended axing dozens of new road projects nationwide because they were considered incompatible with net-zero climate goals.

In Gwent, most projects survived the review, including plans to improve access to Severn Tunnel Junction, one of the area's major railway stations.

There, the council and the Welsh Government want to improve road access and encourage more Severnside residents, including commuters to Bristol and Cardiff, to take the train rather than clog up the M4 around Newport.

The roads review panel largely accepted the scheme could help encourage people towards using public transport, but warned that building a new road connecting the station to the nearby M48 was unsuitable, given Welsh targets to reduce traffic emissions and achieve net-zero carbon by the year 2050.

Following that report, a spokesperson for Monmouthshire County Council said the local authority "remains committed to the delivery of public transport improvements to enable our communities to have access to an improved rail and public bus network".

"Whilst we fully support the plans to create enhanced bus, park and ride and active travel links to Severn Tunnel Junction, they cannot be at the expense of the local community," the spokesperson added.

"We are working in partnership with the Burns Delivery Unit on this project and our position remains that for this scheme to deliver all of the ambitions of the Burns Commission the M48 should be reclassified and a new all access junction should be provided.

"This will ensure that the scheme does not result in increased congestion on the B4245 and supports Welsh Government's modal shift ambitions by providing a viable public transport alternative for long distance journeys."

The council spokesperson also challenged the roads review panels' assessment of the M48 link road proposal.

"A new junction on a reclassified M48 would not increase road traffic but it would result in an increased use of an enhanced rail service at Severn Tunnel Junction, and would divert traffic from the over-congested B4245 and M4," they said.