THE secretary of state for Wales, Alun Cairns MP, has called on residents across the border to look to the South Wales Argus for news, as people in Wales and England prepare for life after the removal of the Severn Crossing tolls.

Mr Cairns made his comments to the Argus' The Business magazine while promoting the Western Powerhouse, a vision of economic partnership and prosperity relying on cross-border co-operation.

He believes keeping up to date with Welsh news is essential to the project's success.

"The concept of the Great Western Powerhouse is to encourage people to think differently," he said. "The financial barrier between Wales and England on the Severn tolls has simply stopped people from looking over the border either side because the cost has acted as an inhibitor.

“So when the tolls go, we need people on either side to know and understand what’s going on, and that’s what the Great Western Powerhouse can contribute to.

“If you live in South East Wales you naturally go to the South Wales Argus in order to understand what’s going on and what business and other opportunities there are in the area.

“Well, I want to create an opportunity where people in Bristol are equally interested in the Argus to find out what those opportunities are as well."

Speaking exclusively to The Business, Mr Cairns laid out his plans.

“The cities on the western side of the UK are individually strong, but collectively, we are not strong enough," he said.

“We need to light the blue touch paper and make a real step change to the way businesses, people and industry from the cities and towns from both sides of the Severn work together when the tolls are removed.

“And I’m not talking about one city taking the lead, but a collection of cities, of communities, of businesses, sufficiently close to each other that, combined, they can take on the world – able to provide jobs and opportunities to the many people who live in or are looking to invest in this region.

“So we need to seize the opportunity to create an economic region on the Western side of the UK that can compete with the Northern Powerhouse, the Midlands Engine and with the economy of the South East.

“This is not a marketing campaign or a one-off event. It’s got to be a serious, long-term strategy to make this part of the UK greater than the sum of its parts."

Mr Cairns said that there would be social issues which would need to be addressed when the tolls are finally scrapped.

He said: “This is part of the reason I want to the engagement of the Great Western Powerhouse. I want us to come together so we can consider what challenges will come forward.

“Generally as property prices are rising that often can create a feeling of prosperity which encourages further investment, but also we have got to recognise that it creates challenges for people who want to buy houses and get on the housing ladder.”

Mr Cairns said he had been calling for an M4 Relief Road for as long as he can remember.

"It is a matter for the Welsh Government but I am keen and desperate to do anything and everything to make it happen because we have given the resource to the Welsh Government, we’ve doubled their borrowing powers," he said.

“We’ve said politically we will lend as much support as we believe they need in order to get the road through in terms of its vote in the assembly. We just want to see it happen as it is a matter for UK strategic importance. It is also a matter that is important to the local community."

Mr Cairns said Newport had gone through a "fantastic" transformation over the last decade.

“I pay tribute to Matthew Evans as a previous leader of the authority who put the foundations in place and to Debbie Wilcox, the current leader of the authority, for the work that she is doing in continuing that ambitious agenda. So I think party politics hasn’t mattered in transforming Newport," he said.

"Among all of the places in the UK Newport is the most attractive to invest in and I think tolls have been a part of that but not all of it. I think the work of the authorities and of businesses in the area have added equally.

“I’ve been coming back and fore to Newport for 25 years and I think that this the best I have ever seen the city but this is only small scale for what’s to come.”