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Ffos-y-fran coal mine expansion

Coal Action Network is campaigning to stop an application to extend the existing Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine in South Wales by 9 months initially, then a further 3 years. This represents a betrayal of promises made to local communities living nearby in Merthyr Tydfil by the coal operator (Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.

Facts and figures

Extension application

ACTIONS & NEWS

Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine quietly becomes a massive reservoir

Coal Action Network’s drone footage on Monday 11th March raised the alarm bell about the rising water levels. With this footage, a local resident informed Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council of the rising water levels, only to be told…

Charges dropped for activists blocking Ffos-y-fran coal mine

The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped all charges against the four Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists who blockaded the entrance to the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine, last summer with a pink boat. While removing the immediate burden of legal confrontation for the defendants, the decision has left a “crater of unfinished business” in the fight for climate justice and accountability for local residents…

Ffos-y-fran, the UK’s last opencast coal mine finally shut – we’re not celebrating

We are an environmental organisation dedicated to ending coal mining and use in the UK for the sake of our collective climate and ecosystems. So you’d think we’d celebrate the claim by Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd that it will finally stop mining coal today at Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. But we’re not. Because the abject failure of Merthyr County Borough Council to stop…

Ffos-y-fran: timeline of illegal coal mining

01 September 2022: Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd applies for a S.73 time extension to mine coal from Ffos-y-fran, and to accordingly delay and vary restoration works.
06 September 2022: Planning permission ends for coal mining at the Ffos-y-fran site, after 15 years and 3 months of operations.
12 September 2022: first reports to MTCBC have been made by local residents of coaling beyond the end of planning permission.

Judicial Review filed against Ffos-y-fran illegal coal mine

With support from the Good Law Project, we have filed for a Judicial Review against both the Local Council and Welsh Government’s continuing failure to stop Ffos-y-fran, the UK’s biggest opencast coal mine, selling off over 1,000 tonnes of illegal coal each day right under their noses and to the harm of local residents…

Ffos-y-fran mining company acting “unilaterally and unlawfully”

Respected senior Barrister, James Maurici KC, and Barrister Toby Fisher have today released a blistering open letter of legal advice that reveals for the first time that the company operating the UK’s largest opencast coal mine, Ffos-y-fran, in South Wales is doing so “unilaterally and unlawfully” without the approval of “any democratically elected bodies or persons”…

Ffos-y-fran: the UK’s huge illegal coal operation

Based on the most recently available official statistics from The Coal Authority, since planning permission ended, by the end of May 2023, nearly 300,000 tonnes of coal would have been mined without any attempt to stop it, at the climate cost of almost a MILLION tonnes of CO2…

Victory! We stopped Ffos-y-fran opencast from extending coal operations!

After two decades of campaigning, last night (26/04/23) Merthyr Tydfil residents, Coal Action Network, and other environmental campaigners finally stopped Ffos-y-fran opencast coal with the Council’s refusal of permission to extend!

Stop coal’s climate toll

Today (25th April) people dressed as Rebecca Rioters protested against the Welsh Government’s failure to deliver a complete ban on coal mining on the steps of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament). The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1842 with the destruction of the toll gates which taxed rural people’s produce.

Rally to rule out expanding Ffos-y-fran opencast

Ffos-y-fran is a large opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales which has operated for over 15 years. On 06th September 2022, planning permission for the opencast coal mining came to an end… but the mining company continues mining an average of 1,000 tonnes of coal every day…

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….

Key facts: illicit Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine expansion

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…

Deiseb: Llywodraeth Cymru Peidiwch ag ehangu pwll glo brig mwyaf y DU

Wales is about to decide whether to expand the UK’s largest opencast coal mine by nearly 4 years, emitting almost 6 million tonnes of CO2, and 16,000 tonnes of methane from the coal mine itself. The climate-trashing Ffos-y-fran coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil extracts up to 50,000 tonnes of coal every month…

Sign this petition to stop the expansion of UK’s biggest opencast coal mine

Wales is about to decide whether to expand the UK’s largest opencast coal mine by nearly 4 years, emitting almost 6 million tonnes of CO2, and 16,000 tonnes of methane from the coal mine itself. The climate-trashing Ffos-y-fran coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil extracts up to 50,000 tonnes of coal every month…

Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine pressures Council for extension in climate crisis

Ffos-y-fran (pronounced in English as Fossey-vran) is a large opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, mining primarily thermal coal. Mining company Merthyr Ltd (previously, Miller Argent) was awarded planning permission in February 2005 on appeal and began opencast coal mining….

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