To read this blog in Welsh click here
Guest blog by Katie-Jo Luxton, RSPB Cymru Director Draft legislation on the proposed M4 diversion through the Gwent Levels is currently being consulted on. RSPB Cymru is asking for members of the public to object to the M4 proposals. In this guest blog Katie-jo Luxton, RSPB Cymru Director, explains why we need to object to the Welsh Government’s M4 legislation and protect the iconic Gwent Levels.
The historic Gwent Levels is rich in nature and is a patchwork of different wildlife havens and landscapes, sweeping the Severn Estuary coastline from Cardiff to the Severn Bridge and beyond. Unfortunately the threat of a new M4 motorway diversion south of Newport in Gwent, has been hanging over this precious landscape for more than 20 years. The proposed diversion would cut through four protected areas (SSSIs – Special Sites of Scientific Interest) that are nationally important for wildlife – we simply can’t let this happen.
Image left: lapwing, image right: bombus sylvarum
Over the last few years, RSPB Cymru has been working closely with the Welsh Government to develop and secure vital legislation which is meant to ensure we have a better, healthier, more sustainable and greener Wales. With dreadful irony, the Welsh Government has since published plans to divert a six lane motorway through the Gwent Levels - sanctioning the destruction of a major part of the Levels SSSI. The Welsh Government has now opened a public consultation to find out your views and we need your help to show them that diverting a motorway through the heart of the Gwent Levels SSSIs would be a serious mistake. The Levels is the largest area of coastal and floodplain grazing marsh in Wales, and one of the largest in the UK, and is home to an astonishing array of wildlife including lapwings, otters, water voles, the great silver water beetle and one of the UK’s rarest bumblebees, the shrill carder bee. The area also hosts a number of specialist plants including frogbit, arrowhead and Wolffia – the smallest flowering plant in the world.
Image left: otter, image right: water vole
Many of these species are in danger of disappearing all together, and destroying their home by building a new road straight through it would have a devastating and irreversible effect as it cuts through the landscape. It would create a lethal barrier of traffic that would be impossible for wildlife to cross and would result in pollution seeping off the road surfaces into the surrounding waterways – on which much of the Levels’ wildlife depends.
Our treasured wildlife is sadly undervalued, ignored and facing extinction. The wanton destruction of our natural heritage has to stop. This road proposal is a classic example of out-dated government thinking, which sees our environment as simply a resource to be used and exploited for short term gain.
If the Welsh Government push ahead with building the proposed M4 diversion across an area as important for nature as the Gwent Levels, then is anywhere in Wales safe for nature? It also reveals the Future Generations Act commitments “to maintain and enhance a biodiverse natural environment with healthy functioning ecosystems” to be nothing more than rhetoric and hot air.
It is estimated that the cost of the new motorway would be over £1billion and what’s more it wouldn’t be fully operational until 2022, whereas a more sustainable and cheaper alternative could be implemented in the next few years; for example, improvements to existing routes and upgrading public transport through a proposed new south Wales Metro.
What happens next?
On Thursday 11 March, the Welsh Government launched its public consultation to find out your views on the development of the M4 motorway diversion. This is your opportunity to defend the beautiful Gwent Levels and the unique species that live there. Together, we can persuade the Welsh Government to re-think their plans to damage one of Wales’ most important landscapes.
It only takes a few minutes to respond to the consultation and every response matters, so please help make a difference by emailing the Welsh Government directly to urge them to drop their proposal. All you need to do is respond by 4 May to ensure this beloved part of the country can thrive for many years to come.
Please click here to respond to the public consultation.
Image left & right: Gwent Levels
I've signed the petition.
Regards,
Ian.