Opencast protests 'inevitable'

Today's protests at the Ffos-y-Fran opencast site are the inevitable result of Government hypocrisy and the failure of the democratic process, according to Friends of the Earth Cymru.

In response to the peaceful protests at the opencast coal mine near Merthyr Tydfil, the Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said:

"People have been forced to take direct action at the Ffos-y-Fran opencast site because the democratic process has failed them.

"The Welsh Assembly Government gave the go-ahead to this project even though it is just 35 meters from the nearest properties. It is accepted that opencast coal mining has harmful noise, pollution, health and landscape impacts on nearby communities and blights property prices.

"This is why Scotland has set a 500 metre separation distance and, significantly, the Welsh Assembly Government is now proposing a 500 metre buffer zone in its latest planning policy[1]. This acknowledges that the Ffos-y-Fran planning approval should never have been allowed.

"There is evidence that the release of the draft planning policy statement was delayed in order to push through Ffos-y-Fran[2] and that the UK Government put pressure on the Welsh Assembly Government to approve the application[3].

"The Welsh Assembly Government should be thoroughly ashamed of itself for allowing this scheme to go ahead, contradicting its policy on sustainable development. The local people have been badly let down and peaceful protest is an inevitable consequence."

Members of Swansea Friends of the Earth are with concerned local residents, observing the protests from outside the site.

Notes

1. The draft 'Minerals Technical Advice Note 2: Coal' issued in February 2008
   
2. George Monbiot writing in The Guardian on October 9th 2007.
   
3. In response to a freedom of information request by local people, it was revealed that Stephen Timms wrote, whilst energy minister in January 2004, to Rhodri Morgan that his officials "have regular contact with Miller Argent" and that he wanted the company's application "resolved with minimum delay".