FOR the past few months, one of the major talking points here in Dinas Powys has been the petition for a project that:

1. Will move a pollution problem from one part of the Vale to another

2. Will cost millions of pounds

3. Will encourage private car use, and

4. Is little more than a 20th century solution to a 21st century problem.

In other words, a petition for a by-pass.

In my view, any project needs to deal with the cause of pollution and congestion at source – by reducing the number of private vehicles that use the roads in the Vale each day. This will require the Vale Council and Welsh Government to come up with an innovative and well-resourced alternative to the car travel.

I accept that there are some for whom a car is an essential but, for many, a car is simply to get them from home to work, where it is parked for the duration of their work, before doing the reverse journey.

All too often, that car, which could hold anything up to seven people, transports a single person.

If we really want to put the Welsh Government’s Future Generations Act into action, we need to be looking at alternative modes of transport, from trains to buses, bicycles to walking, perhaps even trams or light railways that run on the existing roads and take precedence over cars.

Rather than a by-pass, we need education, both within schools and beyond as to the multitude of alternatives, some of which would also improve the Vale’s health statistics.

I haven’t seen all the manifestos that have been issued for the forthcoming local elections.

But I would ask all residents of the Vale to consider voting for candidates who propose to ensure that this issue, which impacts on all of us, is addressed in a balanced and efficient way that ensures that the future is accounted for as well as just today.

Andrew Bowdler

St Nicholas Close

Dinas Powys