| On the 19th October 2004 Mr Rhodri Morgan (speaking to the Welsh Assembly
Government) said "We have to be careful when promoting developments
that they are sustainable and we do not destroy the environment for future
generations by for example burning excessive fossil fuels and increasing
Carbon Dioxide emissions"
On the 29th October 2004 I attended the public meeting in Llanrwst concerning
the slate waste transportation from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Manchester and
the West Midlands.
The supporters of the project justify this industrialisation of the Snowdonia
National Park and Conwy Valley as it is a "sustainable" project.
However when I asked the panel for the comparative figures for Greenhouse
Gas Emissions produced by the 300 mile round trip to transport the slate
waste from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the West Midlands, compared to the GGEs
produced by a local quarry in England they were unable to answer my question.
Even though the project does not propose to transport the waste by road
they seem to be working on the ridiculous assumption that "sustainability"
for the project is dependent on the comparison of emissions between Rail
and Road.
It is not rocket science to understand that the comparison that should be
made is between the 300 mile round trip from Blaenau Ffestiniog compared
with a local (English) quarry with a 30 mile round trip !
Bearing in mind that the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) are obliged to
only promote "sustainable" projects I hope that they will see
through this charade and throw out the project before it proceeds any further.
Maybe the WAG could also contribute 5 million pounds to promote the Conwy
Valley Line as a tourist attraction just as they so recently contributed
5 million pounds to the extension of the Welsh Highland Railway to Porthmadoc.
Bernard Wellings
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