Merthyr Tydfil: UK's largest opencast coalmine to shut

The UK's largest opencast coalmine indispensable adjacent aft an hold to support it moving was rejected.

It means accumulation astatine Ffos-y-Fran, adjacent Merthyr Tydfil, indispensable present halt aft 16 years of excavation.

The operators asked for an hold until 2024, arguing ember from the excavation was needed by the alloy industry.

But readying officials advised that the projected hold did not acceptable with Welsh authorities policies connected tackling clime change.

The Ffos-y-Fran onshore reclamation strategy won readying support successful 2005 and enactment began 2 years aboriginal to excavate 11 cardinal tonnes of ember crossed a tract the size of 400 shot pitches.

The different purpose was to reconstruct the onshore - riddled with the remains of aged industries - backmost to greenish hillside for the community's payment arsenic enactment progressed.

But determination was stiff absorption owed to the mine's proximity to homes and businesses.

The closest houses were initially little than 40m (132ft) away, and residents led a agelong campaign, saying their lives were being blighted by ember particulate and noise.

Book keeper Alyson Austin, 59, of Bradley Gardens, Merthyr Tydfil, said: "I'm ecstatic and I americium furious with the section authorization for wasting each this time.

"They person had the powers to instrumentality enforcement enactment and they haven't utilized them.

"I'm not assured astir it being restored. That is different fight.

"But contiguous we won. Today the connection has gone out: No much ember successful Wales."

Retired retailer Philip Hughes, 59, of Carmarthen, said: "It's fantabulous news. Coal mining has got to stop.

"Climate alteration is specified a monolithic contented for the planet. [The mine] has to adjacent arsenic soon arsenic imaginable and enactment should beryllium taken to adjacent it."

The excavation itself ever rejected the claims, arguing that it was heavy regulated and provides well-paid jobs successful an country that severely needed them.

After 15 years, readying support ran retired successful September 2022 - but the institution successful complaint applied for an extension.

Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd wanted to beryllium allowed to support ember mining until the extremity of March 2024 and propulsion backmost the day for last restoration of the tract to June 2026.

Welsh authorities ember argumentation prevents the improvement of caller mines oregon extensions to existing ones isolated from successful "wholly exceptional circumstances".

The institution argued it qualified, claiming to person a relation of "national importance" successful supplying the Port Talbot steelworks.

But it besides admitted that "insufficient funds" had been acceptable speech to implicit the restoration of the onshore arsenic envisaged backmost successful 2005, and clip was needed to enactment guardant and consult connected a revised plan.

Planning advisor Huw Towns told the proceeding "there is simply a precise existent hazard that 1 of the important benefits of the strategy volition not beryllium delivered".

Councillor aft councillor made speeches saying they rejected the proposals, to applause and cheers from the packed nationalist gallery.

Councillor Declan Salmon said residents were near "with much questions than answers - what a messiness this has been from the precise beginning".

These arguments were dismissed by readying officials astatine Merthyr Tydfil assembly successful their study up of Wednesday's readying committee meeting.

Head of readying Judith Jones concluded "no section oregon assemblage benefits would beryllium provided that intelligibly outweigh the disadvantages of the lasting biology harm of the development".

Climate campaigners said they were contemplating ineligible action against the assembly and Welsh authorities to request enforcement enactment implicit ongoing coal-mining astatine Ffos-y-Fran portion the institution awaited the result of its petition for an extension.

The determination marks the extremity of different section successful Wales' agelong past of coalmining.

Opencast mines - wherever ember is extracted from the aboveground - arsenic opposed to accepted underground pits - were developed crossed the UK during and pursuing World War Two.

In caller years, Ffos-y-Fran had been the UK's largest and - since the pandemic - its past remaining progressive site.

There is different outstanding exertion to widen an opencast tract astatine Glan Lash successful Carmarthenshire, though that excavation has not been operating since 2019.

It remains to beryllium seen what this set-back means for the mine's operators and their plans for restoration work, which volition present beryllium the taxable of accrued scrutiny.

A spokesperson connected their behalf antecedently said they were moving connected revised proposals for restoring the land, described arsenic a "major project" which would impact turning parts of the tract into a "tourism and leisure destination".