Rejected petition STOP funding flawed studies into a new road through the Ely Valley from M4 J34 to A48 Sycamore Cross
A new road would destroy the Ely Valley, a designated Special Landscape Area and ancient woodland.
The road would also have significant impacts on biodiversity. We already know that several priority habitats and protected species would be affected and it is expected that further study would reveal more affected protected and priority species.
The Welsh Government is not meeting its duty to protect biodiversity under Section 6 of the Environment ( Wales) Act
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In addition to the destruction of the habitats of protected species , no work has been undertaken to understand the carbon impacts of the proposed development and concerns raised by local communities are being ignored.”
Since studies on the road scheme started in 2017 the Welsh Government has
*declared a climate emergency,
* set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,
*“committed to pursue a strong decarbonisation agenda” and
reduce private car use.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic the Welsh Government aims for 30% of the welsh workforce to work from home and minimise the need for travel, spreading demand for public transport more evenly.
We call on the Welsh Government to stop these road studies and review whether building a road is consistent with these aims and whether it is fit for future generations.
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the Senedd or Welsh Government is not responsible for.
Petitions to the Senedd must concern an issue that is the responsibility of the Senedd or Welsh Government. They cannot concern an issue that is the operational responsibility of a local authority. This road scheme is the responsibility of Vale of Glamorgan Council and therefore we cannot accept a petition on this issue.
Applications to local transport grant funding programmes run by the Welsh Government are determined according to assessment criteria, and therefore it is not appropriate for petitions to call for specific applications to be determined in a certain way. The assessment criteria for the Local Transport Capital Grant (2020-21) can be found here: https://gov.wales/local-transport-capital-grant-guidance-2020-2021
You could consider contacting your local council or your local representatives about this matter instead.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards
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