By "Grumpy Granny" Judith Phillips

So Assembly transport minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has given an assurance that road charging will only be introduced on "new road networks" in Wales. Road charges would not be applied to existing roads, he said in a TV interview during a conference in Llandudno on Thursday.

No doubt the news will come as a relief to tourism bosses in North Wales who feared a rumour that the A55 was due to become a toll road was true. Imagine the impact charging to use what is at best a barely adequate highway would have on tourism. Visitors would no doubt stay away in their droves, because the alternative to using the A55 is to try to pick your way along a network of A-roads which take you through the centre of towns like Connah's Quay and Mostyn.

Luckily, common sense has prevailed. The minister says there are no plans at present for road pricing on the trunk network in Wales, but the Assembly now has the power to introduce it in the future if it sees it as a way of reducing congestion.

Reduce congestion!? In the case of the A55 it would probably remove it all together! Unlike the M6 toll road it's unlikely to be used by locals wanting to cut their journey time to work. In our largely rural communities we are already being hit by high fuel charges and any additional transport costs could be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back.

And what a cheek to even suggest we should pay an additional fee to use our roads! We already pay road tax and fuel costs which are far higher than those in many other countries. In France toll roads have been a part of the road network for many years, but people there don't pay road tax and there are excellent route nationales linking the major cities which provide a free and almost equally speedy alternative to the autoroutes.

Moreover, I'm intrigued by the transport minister's reference to "new" roads. I don't for a minute think this refers to creating an adequate North/ South road link so that we in the North don't feel quite so divorced from the corridors of power in Cardiff.

For as First Minister Rhodri Morgan said at a meeting in Colwyn Bay last year when he was asked about the possibility of a dual carriageway to replace the pitifully inadequate A470: "We can't do that, there are mountains in the way you know."

Mountains in the way? How his opposite numbers in France, Germany, Italy, Austria and other alpine countries would chuckle at that! Mountains are no barrier to motorways there, they simply blast holes through them to create four lane tunnels. And how do they finance them? Well, according to the large notices which bristle on the approaches to the tunnels they have been largely funded by the EU, so why can't we in Wales benefit from some of this largesse Answers on a postcard please...

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