The Senedd Petitions Committee has agreed to address the urgent need to protect the Gwent Levels Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and to ask Minister Julie James, for essential information relating to protecting this irreplaceable Welsh wetland area.

In addition to its petition: ‘Halt significant new development on the Gwent Levels SSSIs', Gwent Wildlife Trust also presented the Petitions Committee with three urgent requests:

• Welsh Government urgently release its study results of post-construction monitoring of developments on and near the Gwent Levels SSSI.
• Welsh Government release guidance on how to interpret the new Chapter 6 of Planning Policy Wales, clarifying the ‘wholly exceptional circumstances’ and ‘site selection tests’ elements when considering planning applications for planning permission affecting SSSIs.
• Petitions Committee insist on a ‘short inquiry’ on the petition request: Halt significant new development on the Gwent Levels SSSI.

Peredur Owen Griffiths, Plaid MS for South Wales East, and member of the Petitions Committee, said that he recommended contacting the Minister on “…defining of exceptional circumstances and guidance that should be alongside the new chapter 6 (of Planning Policy Wales).

… Maybe we'd be able to ask the Minister to publish that very quickly, because it does have a bearing on some of these planning applications that are going through. Also, there is post-construction monitoring of developments on the site, and there have been some studies carried out into these, so I think it would be very good to ask the Minister, again, to release that and to publish that information very quickly.”

Petitions Committee chair, Jack Sargeant, Labour MS for Alyn and Deeside, agreed to the above to be addressed swiftly.

Formal protection for the Gwent Levels

Gaining formal protection for the Levels has a huge amount of support from a wide range of people and organisations, including Levels farmers and residents, community groups, young Wildlife Warriors, Friends of Gwent Levels, TV naturalists Iolo Williams, Gillian Burke and Lizzie Daly, author and broadcaster Mary Colwell, and internationally acclaimed author, Julian Hoffman, and opponents of the huge Craig-y-Perthi solar power station that will engulf the village and oust neighbouring tenant farmers.

GWT planning manager, Mike Webb, explained:

“Protecting the Gwent Levels SSSI is essential and urgent.  This wonderful landscape is under immense pressure from industrial estates, business parks and solar power stations. As only twelve per cent of land and coastal areas in Wales is designated a SSSI,  we believe these areas should be sacrosanct.  We are not opposed to solar power, of course, but these plants should be situated where they will not cause irreversible harm.”

Third generation Levels resident and farmer, Ceri Hoffrock, opponent of the massive Craig-y-Perthi solar power station proposed for the Levels, added:

“This colossal development will engulf thousands of acres, destroying our community, and the stunning landscape around us. If all the proposed developments go ahead, the heart will be ripped out of the Gwent Levels SSSI, along with the nature that depends on it, and the livelihood of farmers who have worked here for generations. The harm will be catastrophic.”

Gwent Levels wildlife

The Gwent Levels provide a mosaic of habitats that nurture a rich diversity of wildlife throughout the year. The distinctive, familiar but increasingly rare sound of cuckoo calling heralds the fact that spring is in full swing, while the reeds and scrub house the elusive Cetti’s Warbler, its wonderful call piercing the air.  In summer, wildflowers carpet the meadows, and the air is full of insects as they feed on the nectar-rich flowers. As autumn approaches, it’s the best time to see a brilliant flash of colour as kingfishers dart along the waterways.  Flocks of teal and shoveler make the ponds their winter home.  Throughout the year, the waterways known as reens are frequented by water voles (one of the UK's fastest declining mammals) and otters.

Flagship reserve

One of the trust’s flagship reserves is Magor Marsh on the Gwent Levels. Magor Marsh is one of the last remaining pieces of natural fenland that once covered the Levels. Wetlands like this were once commonplace across Britain but they are now one of the UK’s most threatened habitats. It was the threat of losing this important place in the 1960s that brought local naturalists together to fight for its survival, banding together to form what is now known as the Gwent Wildlife Trust. More recently, Barecroft Common was added to the reserve along with neighbouring Bridewell Common, extending this important habitat for the benefit of the natural world.