Opponents of the proposed opencast coal mine at Ffos-y-Fran, Merthyr Tydfil are being backed by a leading environmental organisation. Friends of the Earth Cymru states that there is strong justification for opposing the proposed development and that the planning application ought to be revoked by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said:

"It is accepted that opencast coal mining has harmful noise, pollution and landscape impacts on nearby communities and blights property prices. This is why Scotland has set a 500 metre separation zone to keep opencast away from homes. Yet, at Ffos-y-Fran the development will be as close as 36 metres to the nearest homes. This injustice should not be allowed.

"Although a coal planning policy was first proposed in Wales ten years ago, no planning guidance on coal mining has yet been produced. In the draft policy produced almost two years ago[1], a separation distance of 350 metres was recommended. If this policy had been implemented earlier, it should have blocked the Ffos-y-Fran proposal.

"Some suspect that finalisation of the planning policy statement was delayed in order to push through Ffos-y-Fran and other schemes2. This suspicion has been strengthened by reports that a UK Government Minister was "supporting an opencast coal-mining scheme (Ffos-y-Fran) on behalf of its developer"[3].

"With climate change now posing such a major threat, it makes no sense to open new mines to dig vast quantities of coal. It is difficult to see how the Welsh Assembly Government will achieve reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from Welsh sources if it supports projects such as Ffos-y-Fran.

"We believe there are strong reasons for the planning permission for the Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine to be revoked[4] and we urge the Welsh Assembly Government to do this as soon as possible."

Today at noon, local residents, along with Friends of the Earth supporters, will protest at the launch of the Ffos-y-Fran project at Merthyr Tydfil.

Notes

1. The draft Coal Minerals Technical Advice Note was issued on January 30th 2006.


2. George Monbiot writing in The Guardian on October 9th this year.


3. George Monbiot writing in The Guardian on October 9th this year.


4. These relate to separation distances, health impact assessments and the Welsh Assembly Government's commitment to promote sustainable development and to cut CO2 emissions.