BLACKWOOD - PROTESTS WILL CONTINUE

The oldest trees in St David's Wood, Blackwood, were among the last to fall. As the bailiffs moved in to remove the last fifteen or so people trying to save the woodland, both local protestors and supporters were in tears. The ancient silver oak in the final protest camp - gone. The giant, perfect beech which stood proudly alone in the centre of a field - gone.
'That one will definitely stay' a member of Caerphilly Council had promised, just weeks before. Hundreds of other trees, bat residences, dormouse habitats, buzzard roosts - gone. And never mind the legality. Appeals had been put in to stop the eviction of the protestors, and to preserve the dormouse sites (dormice, unlike protestors, being a protected
species in the UK). But Costain, the construction company, had gone ahead anyway, presumably reckoning the costs of a fine (in the thousands) against the far higher costs of not completing the work.

But, say locals and supporters, the resistance is not over. The trees may be dead, and the road itself underway, but there is still the question of the two bypasses, which are due to connect to the road. They will be built over the small, hitherto peaceful valley, thereby turning it instantly into a miniature of Spaghetti Junction. Unwanted, unneccessary, destructive to local trade, polluting, hazardous and an eyesore, are how most of the Blackwood locals see the bypasses. Not that this has stopped their local council from going ahead with it. 'It makes you wonder why we vote' said a local mother, angrily. Questions abound about the £54 million in 'regeneration' money this exercise will cost, and why it could not be spent on other, more productive local projects. Rumours are rife about local corruption.

Add to this unease the fact that this whole construction is intended to service General Dynamics and General Electric - two American arms manufacturers - and people are confident that the protests will not die. The people who clung onto the trees may have been pulled down to earth, somewhat battered and exhausted. But that, many say, is not the end of the story. In the meantime, the construction's destruction continues.