ALL talk and no action.

That's how critics of the National Assembly often like to portray the performance of AMs in the Senedd.

In general, I don't agree with them - but when it comes to the proposed M4 relief road they have a point.

The start of this month marked 25 years since I started work at the Argus. The debate about the M4 around Newport has been a constant throughout almost all of that quarter of a century.

And yet we are no closer to a solution to the problem than we were when a relief road was first proposed in the early Nineties.

Earlier this year it appeared it was all systems go for the so-called black route - a £1 billion scheme that would see a new motorway built between Magor and Peterstone.

The controversial element of the plan is the new motorway would be built across some of the environmentally-sensitive Gwent Levels.

There is, of course, opposition to the scheme.

Former environment ministers John Griffiths and Alun Davies are against it - although neither voiced their opposition until after they had lost their government posts.

Plaid Cymru are against it, because they think the cost is too high and they prefer the so-called blue route. This would see an upgrade to the existing Southern Distributor Road and cost a fraction of the black route.

There is also opposition from the Federation of Small Businesses, for similar reasons to Plaid.

However, the CBI in Wales and many people and businesses in Newport are in favour of the black route.

While I understand the opposition, my view is most of it comes from people who rarely experience and therefore do not fully understand the problems Newport faces because of the M4 bottleneck around the Brynglas tunnels.

Upgrading the SDR would be a temporary sticking plaster, not a solution.

Some say the M4 should be left as it is, with investment concentrated on a proposed South Wales metro system instead.

There is a lot to be said for the metro proposal, but it should be progressed alongside an M4 relief road rather than instead of it.

The problems caused by a section of the M4 that has not been fit for purpose for more than two decades do not just impact on Newport. They are a negative for the entire South Wales economy - and, like it or not, South Wales drives the Welsh economy as a whole.

There has to be a balance struck between the economy and the environment, of course, but I am firmly of the belief that a solution to the M4 problem around Newport is too important to put off anymore.

The Welsh Government needs to have the courage of its convictions and get on with the relief road.

Newport suffered for years as a result of one particularly stupid political decision which denied the city a barrage that would have transformed its fortunes.

There must not be another one now.

The current M4 stunts economic growth in and around Newport and acts as a barrier to investment.

The relief road might not be popular with a minority, but it is the only truly viable option and, from everything I have seen and heard over the last 25 years, has the support of the majority of people and businesses in this area.

Politicians have had many years to discuss this issue.

The time for talking is over. Let's see some action.