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Glan Lash opencast "off-set" exposed

Glan Lash opencast coal mine

In 2019, Bryn Bach Coal Ltd applied to expand its Glan Lash opencast coal mine and extend the amount of time it would continue mining coal for. The proposal would see the coal mine swallowing a nearby ancient woodland, hedgerows, and grassland. The proposal was rejected by Carmarthenshire County Council in 2023. But Bryn Bach Coal Ltd applied again for a slightly different expansion that would see a smaller area of habitat destroyed - though it would still destroy the ancient woodland. In 'mitigation', Bryn Bach Coal Ltd highlighted that it had restored a site previously used as a tip for an old coal mine. However, that was restored to supposedly mitigate the habitat lost to the current Glan Lash opencast coal mine. Bryn Bach Coal Ltd claimed it would make this restoration even better, although it claimed the site was already restored to a high standard. We visited the site and found the reality to be very different...

The problem with habitat off-setting - background

The very concept of habitats being standardised units, where habitat A can be replaced by habitat B in another area, is a fantasy. Each habitat is as unique as the lives of individual animals that exist within it. It is comparable to saying that we will flatten Manchester and all but the most important people who live there, but it's OK because we'll support extra flats and shops to be built in Plymouth for those VIPs to move to. We don't want to stretch the analogy so we hope we've made it clear how absurd 'habitat off-setting' as a concept is. Yet, 'habit off-setting' continues to go unquestioned in Planning consideration. Priority wildlife (generally species that are endangered) relocated to the 'off-set habitat' often struggles to adapt to their new habitat - because habitats are unique - and often fail to find shelter and food, or re-establish territory, leading to death by starvation, predation, and exposure. 'Off-set' habitats are also often a far-cry from the biodiverse and established habitats that they supposedly replace, despite the far-fetched claims of developers about how they are so much bigger and better.

The off-set for Glan Lash opencast - exposed

The off-set site for the proposed expansion of Glan Lash opencast coal mine is the former Tir y Dail Colliery Tip site which was restored and sits south-east of the Glan Lash site. This restored area would supposedly 'off-set' the irreversible destruction of the ancient woodland on the edge of the Glan Lash mine, until new woodland planted after mining on the Glan Lash site offered comparable habitat - which would be many years, and would never truly 'catch' up with the continually evolving and growing ecosystem of ancient woodland.

What we found when we visited the so-called restored former Tir y Dail Colliery Tip site was a neglected and littered area very far removed from the ancient woodland it would temporarily stand in for.

Dead saplings not replaced

Tree guards not maintained

Replaced top soil of poor quality

Planted trees dense and immature

Dead mature trees

Published: 16.09.2025

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