Thousands show support for campaign to remove red route and save Welsh wildlife

Over 1,300 people recently supported a North Wales Wildlife Trust campaign to have the ‘Red Route’ removed as an ‘aspiration’ in the draft North Wales Regional Transport Plan.

These submissions will inform a Consultation Report currently being prepared for the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee (NWCJC), which is responsible for producing the final Regional Transport Plan.

The NWCJC’s aim is for the Plan to gain Ministerial approval by the end of September 2025. North Wales Wildlife Trust are encouraging members of the public with concerns to raise the issue with their local representatives in the meantime.

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Destroy

The 13km ‘Red Route’ highway proposal in North East Wales (A494/A55/Flintshire Corridor) would destroy ancient woodlands, wildflower meadows, and centuries-old hedgerows, while endangering species such as otters, bats, barn owls and badgers.

Were this development to proceed, it would be by far the largest new highway proposal in the whole of Wales and the most potentially damaging.

Adrian Lloyd Jones, Head of Living Landscapes North Wales Wildlife Trust, said: "The North Wales CJC aims to have the North Wales Regional Transport Plan signed off by the Welsh Government in September.

"We very much hope it has taken note of the comments we and the public have submitted, and the Red Route is not included in the final version; such an aspiration is well beyond the remit of the Plan and completely at odds with the purpose of the Plan. It is also at odds with Welsh Government transport policy."

To find out more about the campaign, visit the North Wales Wildlife Trust's site here.

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