Ten leading environmental charities have claimed a proposed section of motorway that would cut through wildlife-rich wetland represents “ecological destruction on an unprecedented scale”.
The charities have written an open letter to the Welsh government calling for it to scrap £1bn plans to build a 14-mile stretch of motorway through the Gwent Levels near Newport in south Wales.
They argue the “the weight and strength of environmental evidence” should lead the government to withdraw the scheme, designed to ease congestion around the notorious traffic blackspot around the Brynglas tunnels on the M4.
The areas that will be cleared for the motorway provide precious habitats for waterfowl, otters, water voles, bats and rare invertebrates, the charities say.
Their letter states: “The habitat loss, combined with the landscape and visual impact on the Gwent Levels and its surroundings, would not only be brutal but irreversible. The proposed scheme potentially represents ecological destruction on an unprecedented landscape scale and one of the most damaging developments in recent history.”
It argues the money that would be invested in the route should rather be spent on “public transport, active travel and better use of rail freight”. The letter adds: “Increasing road capacity should be the option of last resort, not the first.”
The charities argue that the government’s decision whether to go ahead with the scheme would also be “a true test” of the credibility of its new law, the Well-Being of Future Generations Act.
If it went ahead they said the road would “undermine key Welsh government policy goals and legislative targets on environmental protection, modal shift, carbon reduction, air pollution and public health”.
The scheme features 35 bridges, including a new 1.2-mile (2km) span over the river Usk. The government hopes building can begin in spring 2018; the proposed end date is autumn 2022.
Objectors claim among the creatures and plantlife that would be affected are one of the UK’s rarest bumblebees, the shrill carder, threatened birds such as the lapwing, and flora including frogbit, arrowhead and wolffia (better known as duckweed), which colonise the hundreds of manmade ditches (or reens).
Another argument that has been put forward is that the route will isolate the people who live here, many of them farmers who look after the cattle and sheep-grazing pasture, which has been reclaimed from the sea since Roman times. It may also have an impact on tourism – the long, flat roads with glimpses of the Somerset hills across the Severn estuary are a magnet for cyclists – and there is concern that a motorway would open the door to more development.
The government argues that the route forms “an essential part of our vision for an efficient integrated transport system in south Wales”, claiming it will “improve accessibility for people as well as Welsh goods and services to international markets.”
It concedes that environmentally important areas are bound to be affected. An assessment report published by the Welsh government in March said: “The new section of motorway would run through a mix of agricultural land, industrial land, woodland, and residential land, and would require approximately 721 hectares of land in total (including temporary land for construction and environmental mitigation). This includes areas of environmental and historical interest.”
Signatories of the letter of objection include the directors and chief executives of Wildlife Trusts Wales, Friends of the Earth Cymru, RSPB Cymru, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, Sustrans Cymru, the Campaign for Better Transport, the Woodland Trust, Buglife, Butterfly Conservation Wales and the Bat Conservation Trust.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said:“The M4 relief road is hugely important to our vision for a fully integrated transport system for Wales. The next stage in the process will be to move to a public local inquiry which will consider a wide range of issues including alternative proposals.”
