Part 1

A few comments are needed about last Friday’s public meeting concerning
McAlpine’s slate waste project, held at Llanrwst School - which is
apparently still McAlpine’s building site. It had been billed as
helping councillors and public reach an informed decision. In reality a
more one-sided panel would be hard to find. Thanks largely to a skimped
introduction of the invited speakers, the extent of the bias only
emerged clearly as the evening progressed. No one had been invited to
present the disadvantages of the scheme; nor indeed had those council
officials and civil servants who had worked on the project and would
have informed the meeting without having axes to grind. Furthermore, a
platform was not offered to anyone representing those who have already
suffered financial and other damage directly resulting from the threat
of the scheme. We had had wind of the prejudicial intent of the
meeting’s organisers from speaking to pertinent authorities who had not
even been informed that the meeting was taking place, never mind being
invited. It was precisely for this reason that we produced the 2-page
‘Should slate waste be carried on the Conwy Valley line?’, to summarise
some of, but by no means all of the negative aspects of the scheme.

The chairman, Elfyn Llwyd MP, was contemptuously dismissive of this
“song sheet”, as he called it, without any of the serious issues raised
within it being addressed. Ironically, WE are amongst the very few
people to have studied nearly all the relevant reports and other
documents which have been commissioned at great PUBLIC expense. Neither
of the author’s stands to gain or lose from the project in any way; we
are motivated by our disgust that such a plan, which is so ecologically
and socially damaging should be misrepresented to the public as being
environmentally ‘sustainable’ and ‘regenerative’. Our work for the
Slate Waste Action Group (SWAG) is voluntary and at considerable
personal expense. This is in distinct contrast to many of those who are
paid from the public purse to get to grips with the numerous documents
generated by the project, and make sound decisions on behalf of the
public.

Most of the points in the ‘song sheet’ are sourced DIRECTLY from the
previously mentioned documents. Both ‘song sheet’ and list of sources
can be found at www.walesdirectory.co.uk/swag.htm Other items in the
‘song sheet’ have been confirmed in conversation with the relevant
officials. Of all the points raised, only ONE was referred to by ONE of
the panelists, Mr David Leighton, representative of the lobbying
organisation Rail Freight Group. He took a sneering exception solely to
our assertion that in view of the freight trains’ weight being in the
order of a hundred times the weight of the current passenger service,
there would be not twice or 10 times but 100 times the nuisance and
pollution. Yet it should be obvious to the most unscientifically-minded
that whatever the precise figure, a 100-fold increase in the scale of
operation means a more or less proportionate increase in noise,
vibration and airborne pollution. In scientific terms, whether the
effects are 70 times, 90 times, 110 times or 130 times, there is still
a step change of two orders of magnitude. If Mr Leighton thinks the
effects are less than 100 times, the onus is on him to tell us how much
less. He didn’t and he hasn’t.

What our report did not state was that the noise and fumes would be
trapped within the valleys, especially the steep and narrow parts of
the Lledr Valley, thereby affecting each and very one of the RESIDENTS
AND VISITORS.

We share the eloquently expressed desire of Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM
to work towards a time when Blaenau Ffestiniog can be united with the
surrounding National Park. We would welcome the opportunity to
contribute to this end, rather than having to expend our energies
fighting the spread of industrial blight to the Lledr and Conwy Valleys
and their implied removal from the National Park.

There is widespread fear that if the rail project doesn’t go ahead,
hundreds of lorries will transport the slate waste to England. Yet,
when questioned, Chris Law, Managing Director of McAlpine Slate stated
that they had no such plans, and to another question, that there were
no plans to take slate waste by lorry through Llanrwst.

Other undertakings were given at the meeting, notably by David
Leighton, also on behalf of Freightliner, and the Network Rail
representative, Mr Simon Brooks, that only the most modern and cleanest
technology would be used. The mood of the audience was that promises
were being given very lightly. One gentlemen tried to illustrate this
with the experience of public undertakings given regarding the siting
of the abattoir in a residential area of Llanrwst. Elfyn Llwyd seemed
not to take kindly to being savaged by excessive numbers of dead sheep
and made several attempts to silence the speaker, who courageously
stood his ground and was then loudly applauded.

Over and over and over again, experience dictates that unless promises
are in a LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE form they may prove to be worthless.

Adrian Fawcett
Peter Haslegrave

Bwlch Bach
Pont-y-Pant
Dolwyddelan
LL25 0PJ

Tel 01690 750334

Prepared for Slate Waste Action Group by Adrian Fawcett Bsc Hons and Peter Haslegrave Ph D. , 3 November 2004

Part 2

An extract from a report by Laura Hughes in the North Wales Weekly News reported on Nov 4th 2004.

"In all my years as town councillor I have never seen a meeting so biased and set up so the pro group could hog the time allowed" said Penmaenmawr town councillor Mr Barry Holland.

"When I asked the question of why Conwy County Council would not accept the vote which was 28 to 24 against the (slate waste) project I was told ' thank you for your question, no answer ' ".

Part 3

I have attended a few public meetings in my time but the arrogance of some of the members of the panel, chaired by Mr Elfyn Llwyd MP, had to be seen to believed !

Bernard Wellings

For your information should you wish to object to the project :

Addresses and Telephone Numbers of your Welsh Assembly Government Members >>

E-Mail your Assembly Members. You can E-mail all members with one click! >>

E-Mail a committee. I would suggest Environment, Planning and Countryside >>

E-Mail another committee. Economic Development and Transport >>

E-Mail another committee. European and External Affairs >>

For your information :
Addresses and Telephone Numbers & E-Mail addresses of Conwy County Borough Members >>