Peter Black: Moratorium call

The ship's owners say they are meeting the needs of the construction industry in Wales, supporting 1,700 jobs.

But the temporary licences permitting the Arco Dee to dredge the Nash bank, off the coast of Porthcawl, are due to expire next month.

The dredgers have denied that they are causing irrevesible environmental damage by stripping the channel of sand.

The assembly must now decide whether the economic benefits of dredging outweigh the fears of environmentalists.

Stripped beaches

Last year, campaigners against dredging put their case in the form of a 10,000-name petition to the assembly.

The campaign against the extraction of gravel from the Helwick sands has united conservationists, tourist operators and farmers.

They claim that many formerly sandy beaches - in particular those of Gower - are now down to bare rock and peat.

Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black said the removal of 80m tonnes of sand from the Channel had led to the "destruction" of beaches at Porthcawl and the Gower.

The member for South Wales West said he would like to see a moratorium on all further applications for dredging operations.

He said analysis was needed of all the available scientific data to discover the impact on beaches.

And he has called for the assembly to commission its own urgent research into the subject, together with studies into the impact of global warming and tidal barrages, such as Cardiff Bay.