In his latest budget last month, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the UK Government would be scrapping the Severn bridge tolls by the end of next year.
This follows considerable pressure from various business groups and a vote by all political parties in the National Assembly for Wales for backing the abolition of tolls on the crossings between the West of England and South Wales.
This will finally bring an end what many businesspeople see as a tax not only on entering Wales but on future opportunities for greater investment and access to key markets by Welsh firms.
When the first Severn Bridge was opened on September 8th 1966, the charge for crossing into Wales was set at two shillings and sixpence (or 12.5p in today’s money).
Not surprisingly when Government gets a chance to tax the public (and despite the building of a second Severn crossing in 1992), this fee has gradually increased over the last fifty-one years and now stands at £6.70 for cars and £20 for lorries.
Whilst season tickets are available for regular users, this can still cost up to £5000 per lorry per annum to cross regularly from England to Wales which will mean considerable direct savings for freight companies that bring goods in and out of Wales.
But what could be the benefit to the rest of the South Wales economy after the tolls are scrapped?
With many seeing the West of England housing and commercial property market around Bristol overheating, this may attract more people and businesses to relocate to areas such as Newport and Monmouthshire.
As a result, there could be more potential opportunities for new developments in these areas that could benefit not only local construction companies but, more importantly, those councils that want to see more business investment into the region.
However, the most important message that this will send to potential investors as well as existing businesses is that South Wales is open for business.
As someone who used the bridges regularly for four years as I commuted from Cardiff to Bristol and back, arriving at the toll booths felt that I was being penalised for entering Wales and paying nearly £7 every day for the privilege of doing so.
And by creating a major psychological barrier that has seen Wales as being separate to the rest of the UK economy, this may have deterred businesses on both sides of the Severn from seeking opportunities and creating wealth in South Wales. Hopefully, that will end now.
But this can’t be the only factor and with 80,000 vehicles crossing the bridges every day, there is also an urgent need for the Welsh Government to make a positive decision on the M4 Relief Road to maximise the benefits for commuters and businesses.
Therefore, I believe that the opening of the Severn Bridges for the first time ever to free traffic could be transformational but only if we take full advantage of the opportunities that emerge from this decision.
At the moment, there is no better time to do so not only for potential developments in Chepstow and the Severn Bridge Tunnel area but also in Wales’ third city, with IQE’s £400 million compound semiconductor cluster in Newport, the development of the National Cyber and Software Academies for developing future skills for major industries and the opening of the International Convention Centre at the Celtic Manor in 2019 that will transform the local hospitality industry.
Given this, the UK and Welsh Governments have a massive once in a lifetime opportunity to shout from the top of the bridges that South Wales is now open to business. I can hope that they do this and will be marketing this message not only across the UK but also the rest of the World.