GNo new M4!
The Welsh Assembly Government is planning a new M4 motorway around Newport which would slice through the Gwent Levels SSSI, devastating this wonderful wetland landscape. Find out more and get involved in the Campaign Against the Levels Motorway at www.savethelevels.org.uk
Sign the petition at www.gopetition.com/petitions/no-new-m4 and tell your friends and family.
went Wildlife Trust sees the Welsh Assembly Government’s “New M4” proposal as an enormous threat to wildlife. This motorway would cut through the Gwent Levels SSSI – a nationally important wetland – wreaking five miles of destruction on grazing marsh and freshwater reens that teem with wildlife. I think there is every reason to hope that the Outline Business Case for the New M4 project (expected on the WAG Transport Minister’s desk in the New Year) will put the supposed benefits of the New M4 in doubt. In fact, I think it must do, given the relatively cheap and impact-free alternatives which exist to ease traffic problems and improve road safety in south Wales. And of course, the new road would be hugely expensive and deeply unaffordable, especially in the current economic climate.
Plaid Cymru’s national council voted unanimously to oppose the New M4 at the weekend – surely this is deeply significant given that Plaid Cymru’s Ieuan Wyn Jones is WAG Transport Minister. I would dearly love to know what the thinking is within the Labour Party right now. I think it is vital that Labour is encouraged to look at more sustainable alternatives – I suspect that now could be the vital time to make representations to Labour politicians. Please do what you can to encourage the powers that be to see sense. This scheme needs killed off forever, so we can concentrate on adapting Wales to a low-carbon economy, which will keep us economically vibrant into the long-term. The CALM website below gives more details of our concerns over this scheme, and links so you can find out how to contact your constituency Assembly Members, and the List assembly members for your region of Wales.
With regard to the Labour Party, surely there is no-one better to contact than First Minister, Rhodri Morgan. His e-mail address is: rhodri.morgan@wales.gov.uk. Here’s hoping that the One Wales Coalition government of Labour and Plaid Cymru will commit now to a sensible and value-for-money programme of transport investment, which doesn’t sacrifice the local and global environment. You may also wish to e-mail the Transport Minister, to welcome the clear commitment to sustainable development that has just been made by his party. His e-mail address is: ieuan.wynjones@wales.gov.uk www.gwentwildlife.org
