{"id":46771,"date":"2018-12-05T16:01:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T16:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=46771"},"modified":"2018-12-05T16:01:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T16:01:18","slug":"protest-over-m4-relief-road-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2018\/12\/05\/protest-over-m4-relief-road-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest over M4 relief road plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Protesters have gathered to voice their dismay as the Welsh Senedd approaches a decision on a new motorway route<\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_46772\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 4032px\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-46772 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/12\/IMG_0122.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"3024\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-46772 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/12\/IMG_0122.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"3024\" \/><\/noscript> Holly Butterworth is a communications volunteer for Friends of the Earth<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hundreds of campaigners came together outside the Welsh Senedd to protest against construction plans for an extension of the M4 which they say will threaten local wildlife.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The plans, which were originally proposed in the early 1990s, are intended to alleviate congestion on the M4 around Newport. <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_46773\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 4032px\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-46773 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/12\/IMG_0126.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"3024\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-46773 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/12\/IMG_0126.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"3024\" \/><\/noscript> Phil Ward (far left), Julian Rosso (middle) and Terry Howell (right) have been campaigning against the road for 27 years<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 14 mile stretch of road would cut through four sites of special scientific interest (SSSI), areas which have been deemed worthy of conservation due to their fauna, flora and geographical features.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIf this goes through then no SSSIs are safe anywhere in the country,\u201d said Kate Gibbs, from Llanfairfechan. \u201cIt would set a terrible precedent.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The area in question, known as the Gwent Levels, is home to various species of wildlife including otters, waterfowl and the rare shrill carder bee. Gwent Wildlife Trust describe it as the Amazon of Wales in terms of biodiversity.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_46774\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 4032px\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-46774 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/12\/IMG_0123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"3024\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-46774 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2018\/12\/IMG_0123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"4032\" height=\"3024\" \/><\/noscript> Rebecca Harford from Friends of the Earth said, \u201cThe M4 &#8216;black route&#8217; is an old-fashioned and backwards-looking solution, which goes against the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (2015) and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of species there you don\u2019t get in other places,\u201c said Friends of the Earth volunteer Holly Butterworth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wales does have a serious problem with traffic. Last year <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-wales-42279293\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">traffic jams<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> cost the Welsh economy almost \u00a3278 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eco Vagabonds manager, Autumn Martinez, said on social media, the road was necessary because of people\u2019s lifestyles. \u201cThese main roads exist so that goods and produce are imported. As long as we consume and do long distance travel, larger, safer and more roads will be required.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" title=\"Protest against new M4 road\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"about:blank\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OLygDVYmvgs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe title=\"Protest against new M4 road\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OLygDVYmvgs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the protestors say the new road is not the solution Wales needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cAll we are going to be doing in Newport is exporting our problem onto Cardiff,\u201d said president of Gwent Wildlife Trust, Roger James. \u201cThat is where the motorway ends, so you\u2019ll have a large amount of people disgorging onto what is already a crowded capital city.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The protestors suggest alternatives such as free buses, park and ride, or improving the condition of the current road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Roger said these alternatives should be attempted before the government resort to building a new road.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The protest took place on 4 December, in anticipation of the imminent assembly vote on the road. Speakers against the new road included leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price and deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Amelia Womack.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The decision has now been pushed back and will be held under the new first minister. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protesters have gathered to voice their dismay as the Welsh Senedd approaches a decision on a new motorway route<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":46772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,207],"tags":[6574,433,6575,6576,434,1892,4645],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-46771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-no-logo","category-no-logo-home","tag-assemblywales","tag-m4","tag-m4reliefroad","tag-nationalassembly","tag-nonewm4","tag-protest","tag-wildlife"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - 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