I VISITED Newport wetlands centre last week on what was World Wetlands Day, meeting officials from RSPB Cymru and Natural Resources Wales.

This centre is a fantastic resource for the people not just of Newport but the whole of South Wales and farther afield.

This brought it home to me once again that we cannot allow the beautiful Gwent Levels to be damaged by the M4 Mark Two.

The so-called black route is not only much more expensive but cheaper and much less damaging alternatives – the blue route – are available. This route has not been properly considered by the Welsh Government.

What sort of legacy would the black route leave for our children, our grandchildren and great grandchildren?

The Gwent Levels is a stunning area, home to plants and wildlife, complete with its unique system of reens. The Welsh Government needs to stop this folly now and end spending money on preparation work for a road most are opposed to.

Traffic congestion has to be tackled along the M4 but we need the best route and the black route is not it.

The cost has been estimated at £1bn, many infrastructure projects rise enormously over time. Such a route is likely to end up costing tens of millions of pounds, if not hundreds of millions more, by the time it was built.

Pressing ahead with the black route would also mean less money for improving infrastructure in other parts of south-east Wales such as the valley areas of Gwent. We should not be putting all our eggs in one very expensive basket.

Local government shake-up

A White Paper on proposed changes was published last week and I raised the issue with the Minister for Public Services in the Senedd.

The Minister said that he would listen very carefully to responses but I wonder if that will really be the case or will he just do what he wants. The Minister has history on this because he asked for proposals from local authorities for voluntary mergers – and then promptly ignored those he received.

I want to encourage younger people, women and those from ethnic minority groups to stand for council but is setting a maximum term that councillors can serve the right way forward? Surely, decisions about who represents the public should be made by voters and not the Minister?