Watch: TV presenter Iolo Williams backs campaign to save Cardiff’s Northern Meadows during visit

TV nature presenter Iolo Williams has backed Cardiff’s Save the Northern Meadows campaign during a visit to the site.

He met with campaigners to discuss their efforts to save the site from what they say are poorly placed plans by Velindre University NHS Trust for a standalone day centre for cancer patients.

Protestors are campaigning to save the land as they believe it represents some of Cardiff’s last remaining green meadows and ancient woodland.

Iolo Williams had previously supported the campaign through social media.

TV presenter Iolo Williams has backed a campaign to save Cardiff’s Northern Meadows during a visit. pic.twitter.com/L2ukgSM4v9

— Nation.Cymru (@NationCymru) November 4, 2021

“I’ve come to the Northern Meadows in Cardiff today, and just look at this – what a beautiful place,” he said.

“There’s bramble, there’s scrub, there’s woodland. There’s a lovely old meadow – this hasn’t seen fertiliser in 50 plus years.

“A cracking place. A green lung for Cardiff. And a real stress reliever for local people. This is where so many local people come for their walks, just to get away from their troubles, just for half an hour.

“We’ve been through a pandemic, we know him important these areas are. Just to get out for 15 minutes a day is a massive help, physically and mentally.

“You’ll never believe it but the Welsh Government and – I’m ashamed to say – Velindre are complicit in wanting to destroy this site. They want to build the new Veindre hospital here.

“Velindre do fantastic work. I’ve given massive support to them in the past. I’ve done sponsored walks. I’ve walked up Kilamanjaro to help them. But this is wrong.”

‘Loss’

Chris Marshall from the campaign said that Iolo was able to experience “what we are trying to save from the bulldozers”.

“During the hour and half walk, Iolo listened to our concerns and the broad complexities involved here, stopping to chat and take photos with members from the community and supporters of the campaign,” he said.

“He heard about the extremely serious medical case for not locating the new Velindre cancer centre here, as well as the local flooding concerns and the obvious huge environmental loss as well.

“We hope that his visit to the Northern Meadows, especially during the week of the COP26 climate talks taking place in Glasgow, will allow more people to take on board and understand why local people are so against the destruction of this beloved area.”

Building work on the hospital itself is scheduled to begin in March 2023, with it due to open in summer 2025.

In September, a leaked letter revealed how an advisory board of cancer experts warned against building the new hospital.

They wanted the building next to a large general hospital like University Hospital Wales.