Coal, Climate Change and Community: The Case of Ffos-y-Fran

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the welsh agenda issue 71 | 17 ‘ People have been just put down and put down, you know, in the end, they just get fed up’ Ffos-y-Fran opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil has been the subject of community opposition since the very beginning. However, the mine operator, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, recently notified the Welsh Government in an open letter that it will be ceasing all operations on 30 November 2023. Significant questions remain surrounding the mounting restoration costs, estimated around £65m; the admission from the mine owner of a shortfall of at least £50m, and concerns for the futures of the mine’s 180 workers. The ‘land reclamation scheme’ at Ffos-y-Fran is the final phase of a plan by the former Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council to landscape an area of derelict and dangerous industrial wasteland. Due to the huge costs involved and tight council budgets, the operators were permitted to mine the land, if – in exchange – they would use a share of the profits generated to landscape and backfill the opencast, eventually to restore the site to common land, providing a safe green space for the local community. Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine was approved by the Welsh Government (then Assembly) in 2005, and set up to excavate a million tonnes of coal annually, making it one of Europe’s largest opencast sites. However, for the local communities that surround the opencast, life has not been the same since. While the site has provided employment opportunities for some, for others Ffos-y-Fran has had a detrimental impact on their daily life. For years, the ‘Residents Against Ffos-y-Fran’ group led a fierce campaign highlighting serious health concerns related to noise, visual and dust pollution. In 2017 the UN called for an independent investigation into allegations of cancer clusters and high childhood asthma rates among residents. This was never conducted. Meanwhile mining continues with some homes located just 40 metres from the site. Evidently, living next to Britain’s biggest opencast has taken its toll. Another campaign against Ffos-y-Fran has been led for almost two decades by local residents Chris and Alyson Austin, who explain how many people in the industrial, working class community of Merthyr Tydfil now feel powerless. ‘People have been just put down and put down, you know, in the end, they just get fed up,’ explains Chris. ‘Nobody’s got the confidence really, in themselves, to be able to think that they can make a difference,’ adds Alyson. They question if a development of this scale, along with its harmful toll
18 | Coal, Climate Change and Community on local communities would be permitted in middle class communities across the border. Alyson feels that many people think: ‘Wales is the crap end of the UK, and Merthyr is the crap end of Wales’ – where local people are expected to be grateful for any job and just accept what she describes as ‘the crumbs’. These negative perceptions of the area, they argue, has led to a general feeling held by many locals that the mine operators are untouchable and not accountable for the harm to local residents. Recent events at Ffos-y-Fran would have only further embedded these feelings. When planning permission expired in September 2022, many residents hoped this would mark the end of mining and the start of the restoration work. Instead, the operators caused further outrage by continuing to mine at the site. Just days before the expiration of permission, the mine owner had applied for an extension to continue mining operations for an additional nine months. Once again, residents pushed for action to be taken. For eight months, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and the Welsh Government took no enforcement action. It was not until April 2023 that Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council finally rejected the application, later putting in place an enforcement notice against the mine operator. Despite this, mining at Ffos-y-Fran opencast has not stopped, with the ongoing daily environmental impact of mining estimated to produce the equivalent to c.4,000 tonnes of CO2 every day. In August 2023, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd announced plans to finally cease mining operations on 30 November. Meanwhile extraction continues, with no certainty about where the profits are going. The power to put an immediate end to this lies with both the local council and the Welsh Government, who have the powers to issue a ‘stop’ notice. They have not yet done so. It is precisely these inactions that has led the environmental group Coal Action Network to file for a Judicial Review against both Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and the Welsh Government. With support from the Good Law Project, they accuse both parties of failing in their duties to protect local residents – and potentially breaking the law – by putting off an enforcement decision to stop the illegal extraction of coal at Ffos-y-Fran, actions they argue equate to ‘maladministration’. While the end of mining at Ffos-y-Fran may potentially be in sight, significant challenges remain. The operator has confirmed mass redundancies for all 180 workers, and there appears to be a significant lack of forecasting and preparation to protect these workers. Local campaigner Chris Austin argues this is a dereliction of duty from the mine operator who had an agreed ‘obligation’ to provide support packages to workers. ‘Nothing has been put in place for them at all. They’re just using them as pawns to try and leverage planning consent or to leverage whatever political argument that they’re trying to get… So they failed them. The local authorities failed them. The Welsh Government has failed them’. The Welsh Government has confirmed they are in talks with trade unions and the mine owner regarding the workers’ futures. With restoration works said to take two to three years to complete, there will be a future for workers at the site but a clear package of support and just transition is evidently required. The longer term challenge now facing both the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council lies in the daunting costs of filling the gaping opencast and securing the local environment. To ensure the necessary reclamation funds were set aside, an escrow account was held by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and the
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Coal, Climate Change and Community: The Case of Ffos-y-Fran

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