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Environmental campaigners call on Welsh public to say No to a M4 relief road

Yesterday Secretary of State Peter Hain MP asked the people of Wales to consider the idea of funding the construction of a M4 relief road (M4RR), around the south of Newport, using road tolls. The announcement was made on the day that the tolled Birmingham Northern Relief Road was opened, operated by private developer Midland Express Ltd (1).

Responding to Peter Hain's call Friends of the Earth Cymru has put forward several reasons why the scheme should not be built and says that decisions about the proposal will be an acid test of the Welsh Assembly Government's and the people of Wales's commitment to sustainable development. The group strongly oppose the proposed M4RR, tolled or otherwise, on the grounds that it would:

• encourage major traffic growth in the already congested south east Wales area
• increase car dependency rather than transport choice
• increase Welsh global warming emissions and energy use
• cause major damage to a highly designated wildlife site.

Neil Crumpton, the group's transport spokesperson said:

"Wales has been invited to consider the idea of constructing a tolled-motorway across the Gwent Levels. We hope that the people of Wales can say in due course that they have considered it and have decided to say no. We think that there are alternatives to pursue which would only be undermined if the motorway was built, privately funded or not. The motorway may only serve to redistribute some business activity to no significant overall economic gain. And the damage done to wider social and environmental objectives could in turn pose future economic risks. Such a scheme would be very damaging to the sustainable development of Wales and should not be built."

Friends of the Earth Cymru point out that even if the scheme was routed entirely along brown field land the traffic growth considerations alone would deal a severe blow to the Welsh Assembly Government's sustainable development policies and objectives. The group say that the UK is one of the world's richest nations and a significant voice on the global stage and that Wales has a world-leading policy on sustainable development. So Wales and the UK should now be concentrating on its environmental performance, rather than risk future economic dangers due to the promotion of unsustainable developments.

The campaigners support UK network-wide variable electronic road tolling which could be used to moderate traffic levels on the existing M4 to avoid the forecast congestion (2). They point out that by the time a M4RR were constructed the UK would be much closer to the possible introduction of a nationwide scheme as the technology is developed over the next decade. All HGVs using the UK road network are due to be satellite-tracked and electronically tolled by 2007.

Several possible, planned or nearly completed transport alternatives in the area would also provide choices and reduce forecast congestion, these include:

• better and more frequent services provided by the new integrated All Wales Rail Franchise
• the Wentloog rail freight terminal
• the introduction of an Ebbw Vale Rail Passenger Service
• a Cardiff Airport rail link
• sea freight for HGV's land-bridging from Europe to Ireland
• the Newport Southern Distributor Road, with appropriate future planning, may help local traffic avoid its contribution to congestion on Newport's M4 junctions
• the possible construction of an additional tunnel at Brynglass for M4 eastbound traffic.

The group say that it would be useful for the public to be able to consider the possible construction of a third tunnel at Brynglass to carry the M4's eastbound traffic. If feasible, this would remove the Brynglass bottleneck and make the M4 three-lane through the whole area.

It has been said by the Highways Directorate that such as scheme has been investigated and discounted but the campaigners say that the public should have access to all current information including costings for any additional Brynglass tunnel scheme and at least some reasoning as to any recommendations and decisions taken so far.

Notes

1) The M6 Toll is the UK's first and only toll boothed motorway. It has been built and will be operated by private developer Midland Expressway Limited (MEL) which is a joint venture between Macquarie Bank of Australia and Autostrada of Italy. The company charges motorists to use the road and the toll revenue pays for the road's construction and maintenance and shareholder profits. The toll revenue is not recycled to fund public transport alternatives in the region.

2) Friends of the Earth Cymru support variable electronic road tolling of parts or preferably the whole UK road network where the revenues raised are fed back to support public transport choices and less traffic dependent lifestyles. The group have recently started a campaign to persuade Monmouth Council to consider a road toll on the A48 through Chepstow. The group do not support tolls on major new roads to provide revenue for their construction. Germany is introducing a HGV tolling scheme before 2007.