A revised restoration plan for the Ffos y Fran opencast coal mine in Merthyr could be submitted early next year as residents and campaigners are calling for the site to be restored and made safe. The council has said but that there are legal proceedings related to Ffos y Fran but that the authority is in talks with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd and that current discussions indicate a planning application for a revised restoration plan will be submitted to Merthyr Tydfil CBC in early 2024.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, the company that runs the site, said: “Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd continues hold constructive dialogue with Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council and other relevant stake holders on the revised restoration plan and there will be no further comment until the plan is finalised and approved by the relevant parties.” But Chris and Alyson Austin who live near Ffos y Fran have made an urgent appeal to Merthyr Tydfil Council and Welsh Government to ensure the owner restores the site, and make it safe, for the local community, according to Friends of the Earth Cymru.
Merthyr (South Wales) Limited, the owner of Ffos y Fran announced that they intend to stop mining on November 30, 2023, but campaigners are concerned that even if the company does stop extracting coal, they will leave without restoring the site, as promised. Mr and Mrs Austin from Merthyr Friends of the Earth, who live close to the mine, have been campaigning to stop it for the last two decades.
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Alyson Austin said: “We don’t want them to just leave. We want them to restore the site. The company was given permission to mine here on the condition that the site was fully restored afterwards and handed back to the community. The sign at the entrance says ‘Ffos y Fran Land Reclamation Scheme.’ The ‘reclamation’ promised meant returning the land to a better, usable state, not leaving us with a huge, horrible mess. It must be restored, otherwise it will be an ugly, dangerous place, rather than an amenity we can enjoy.”
Chris Austin, Alyson’s husband, added: “It makes my blood boil. We’re told the company can’t afford to restore the site, that over the years they’ve failed to put money aside for this, as they were contractually obligated to do. They have made huge amounts of money over the years from the coal mining; where has it all gone? What message does this send out? That you can do business, make money, and not honour your obligations to the detriment of local people. That you can continue to work against the direct instructions of the local authority and our elected representatives with seeming impunity? It sets a terrible precedent.
“We can’t allow them to get away with this. It is not just about the impact on our community here, but on other communities in the future.” Haf Elgar, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, agreed: “It’s disgraceful that coal mining has been allowed to continue unlawfully at Ffos y Fran for so long, against the wishes of the local community, the unanimous vote of councillors, and to the detriment of the planet.
“We hope that the mining will now stop and that will be the end of opencast mining in Wales. But this does not feel like a day to celebrate – workers are being made redundant rather than kept on to restore the site and supported to find other roles, and the whole process has been such a farce that there is no certainty what will happen next. The company must fully restore the site – and Merthyr Council and the Welsh Government have to ensure that this happens, for the sake of the local community and to restore faith in the planning system.”
