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Petition delivered to the Welsh Government: call in and reject this coal mine!

In September 2022, Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine’s 15-year planning permission ran out and the coal mine was due to close and restoration begin. However, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd applied for a S73 time extension to mine coal at the site for a 9 months, with an intention to submit a further application for a 3-year expansion.

But this climate calamity can’t go ahead! Today, Thursday 12th January, Chris and Alyson, who live close to the Ffos-y-fran coal mine, delivered our petition of over 20,000 signatures to the Welsh Government’s The Planning and Environment Decisions Wales. The petition demands that the Welsh Government:

  • ‘calls in’ the decision if the local Council considers granting planning permission to expand the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine, in recognition of the wider impacts.
  • acts on climate science, listens to local residents, and follows its own laws and policies, such as the Well-being of Future Generations Act, to swiftly reject expanding the UK’s largest opencast coal mine
  • includes workers on a Universal Basic Income pilot, and invests in jobs with a future.
38 Degrees petition
Ffos-y-fran coal mine