ANSWERS have been demanded over the Welsh Government’s decision to throw out the long-awaited Circuit of Wales.

On Tuesday the Welsh Government’s cabinet blocked the £425 million scheme, which has been in progress since 2011, for the third and final time over concerns around the amount of public investment which would be required if the project went ahead.

The decision was met with widespread shock and dismay.

And now an email has emerged which raises questions around information provided to investors.

The email uncovered by Plaid Cymru, and seen by the Argus, was sent on Wednesday June 14 - less than two weeks before the decision was made to refuse the plan, and shows a Welsh Government official telling a representative of investors Aviva “at the moment there does not appear to be any showstoppers”.

Senior Plaid AM Adam Price said he was concerned this, as well as the decision itself, had done “serious damage” to the potential of any future large-scale projects in Wales.

“It appears from this communication that even at a very late stage, investors were being led to believe that the project would be going ahead,” he said.

“With the deeply dishonest and thoroughly unprofessional manner that it has engaged with all parties, business, Parliament, and, most of all, the public, the Welsh Government has done serious damage not just to our economy, but our global reputation as a nation and, indeed, trust at home in democracy itself.”

Quizzed about the email in the Senedd on Tuesday afternoon, Wales’ economy and infrastructure secretary Ken Skates said: “The whole point of due diligence is that you strip away all of what appears to be the case and you actually get to the facts and then the facts are scrutinised accordingly.”

He added: “I can say that Welsh Government is not liable for costs incurred by any of the other parties in developing the project and we are not anticipating any claims for costs being made.”

Meanwhile the leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies has called for the minutes of the meeting of the Welsh Government’s cabinet on Tuesday, in which the decision was made, to be made public.

Speaking yesterday he added: “I call on the first minister to make public the minutes of yesterday’s Welsh Government cabinet meeting at the earliest opportunity, given the significance to the Welsh economy of the strategic decisions made in that meeting.

“In the name of accountability and transparency, I also urge the cabinet secretary for economy to publish all due diligence papers relating to the Circuit of Wales.

“If the Welsh Government wishes to maintain any semblance of credibility then they will not hesitate to do this immediately.”