THE CIRCUIT OF WALES was the subject of my Plenary debate “Wales takes the chequered flag”. I am pleased that the final hurdles to this project are being cleared.

The regeneration of valley communities has been slow, there have been decades of industrial decline of our traditional ‘heavy industries’ and more recently of those industries brought in to replace of coal and steel.

The majority of inward investment focuses on the transport networks along the South Wales coast. Too often the costs of transporting raw materials in, then finished goods out, has left the heads of the valleys region on the side line whenever potential industrial developments are considered.

The most successful regeneration project for this region is probably the inclusion of Ebbw Vale in the Conservative Government’s programme of ‘garden festivals’; attracting over 2 million visitors in 1992 and the Festival Park shopping centre still attracts thousands of visitors every year.

The Circuit of Wales is a unique transformational project to revitalise one of the most deprived economic regions in the UK, and provide the impetus for long-term economic regeneration. It is anticipated that there will be “spades in the ground” very soon with the potential of the 2017 MotoGP in Ebbw Vale on Britain’s first purpose-built motorcycle Grand Prix circuit.

CBI WALES' “A PLAN FOR PROSPERITY” was published this week.

It proposes that that new Welsh Government (to be elected in May 2016) should, within its first 100 days, confirm a timetable for the construction of the M4 black route to give businesses the confidence needed to invest in Wales.

It explains any decision to postpone or cancel the M4 black route "would have long-term consequences for the government's reputation within the business community - and not just in Wales".

I appreciate that this will cause some concern to people who see the Gwent levels as a natural landscape. The Gwent levels are a product of thousands of years of human reclamation, drainage and structural engineering; finally the construction of the Wetlands Reserve, established to mitigate lost wildlife habitat because of the Cardiff Bay Barrage. Ironically, this reversed thousands of years of human activity to drain the land, creating the reserve keeps the land flooded.

Within 20 years of this man-made feature, nature has established a rich, diverse habitat; should an M4 Relief Road cross the levels, within a similar period, nature will again establish another rich, diverse habitat.