CAMPAIGNERS have written to Welsh ministers calling for the proposed M4 relief road around Newport to be scrapped.

The Campaign Against the Levels Motorway (CALM) say the project, now estimated to cost £1.4 billion, is “outdated” and “flawed”.

The seven-page statement sets out eight points of contention, including the inflated costings, the rise in carbon emissions and a lack of consideration for alternative options.

CALM, made up of local residents and organisations, also believe the new motorway’s construction will be “catastrophic” for the Gwent Levels.

“There is no case for this motorway,” said the group’s chair Catherine Linstrum.

“You couldn’t justify it if it was running through a barren strip of no-man’s land, but the fact that it would slice through the Gwent Levels – the most precious wetland landscape in Wales – makes this project even more of a catastrophic mistake.”

Under plans set out by the Welsh Government, the six-lane motorway would cut through the wetlands between Magor and Newport.

An ongoing public inquiry into the relief road heard in September that it would have an “unprecedented impact” on an area once described as “Wales’ very own Amazon rainforest”.

And in their seven-page statement, CALM argues that the road will make traffic on the M4 around Newport worse.

Ms Linstrum said: “This road will encourage much more traffic onto all our roads, increasing congestion at bottlenecks throughout South Wales.

“There are much better ways to stimulate the Welsh economy and to provide sustainable transport for all. We are calling on AMs to think again on this out-dated transport ‘solution’ which would fail to deliver on all its promises.”

With regards to the increased cost - the original figure was £1.1 billion - Ms Linstrum believes that the figure will only increase further.

“About £2 billion is more likely,” she said.

“That’s two thousand million pounds of our money to bypass an existing motorway. The Government’s proposal is at complete odds with the Assembly’s core policies on transport, sustainable development and the well-being of future generations.

“There are so many better ways to spend that money across Wales.”

A Welsh Government spokesnman said, “We have been very clear that resolving the issues on the M4 around Newport is an absolute priority for us.

“The proposed M4 project is currently being scrutinised by an independent inquiry to test whether it is the long-term, sustainable solution to these problems. Ministers will make a final decision in the summer, based on the findings of the inquiry.

“We are keen to continue to work with all partners to ensure the goals and ways of working within the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act will be followed as we take any project forward.”