Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is the mining company refusing to clean up its own mess after mining millions of tonnes of coal from the sprawling opencast coal mine, Ffos-y-fran, in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The following consultants are stubbornly risking their reputation by supporting an application by Merthyr (South Wales) to downgrade the promised restoration by around £90 million, leaving behind 100m exposed and sheer cliff drops, three new colossal coal tips, and a huge void with up to 1 MILLION cubic metres of polluted mine water.
Email each consultancy company and politely ask them why they're risking their reputation by working with a mining company intent on selling out nature amidst a biodiversity crisis in Wales. We know of other consultants who have refused to work with this mining company, seeing the how their input would be used to leave behind a dangerous site that poses a real risk to life and limb on the doorsteps of 58,000 residents in Merthyr Tydfil. Not to mention that the Director of this mining company has a long record of criminal fraud, physical violence, and belligerence.
Richards, Moorehead & Laing Ltd
RML Ltd are the architects of the new 'restoration' application to short-change Merthyr Tydfil by around £90 million. RML Ltd's new scheme seeks to replace the existing restoration agreement. Unlike the existing agreement, the new scheme by RML Ltd is a plan to do as little as possible. It is riddled with gaps and leaps of logic in a painful effort to convince the Merthyr Tydfil planning authority that this new plan that happens to cost 90% less than the current scheme is a better solution for the sprawling wasteland created by the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine. You might want to encourage Jon Stoddard of RML Ltd to rescue its reputation and cut ties with this project to short change nature:
Contact: Jon Stoddard j.stoddard@rmlconsult.com CC: rml@rmlconsult.com
Groundwater Science Ltd gives advice on hydrology issues and its assessments to Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd try are being used by the company to convince the Local Planning Authority that it is acceptable not to return three colossal coal tips to refill the huge mining void. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd flooded the mining void with up to a million cubic metres of polluted mine water. Groundwater Science Ltd's involvement legitimises a situation that creates an unnecessary risk and breaches the agreed restoration scheme.
Encourage Stuart Daley, Julia Soares, Josh Roberts, Mal Graham of Groundwater Science Ltd to see the wider context, and drop Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd as a client, so it doesn't drown in the bad press this underhand project continues to get.
Contact: Stuart Daley, Julia Soares, Josh Roberts, Mal Graham at a.black@gwscience.co.uk
Archaeology Wales claims to be the largest, independent private archaeologist company based in Wales. It seems being from Wales doesn't stop Archaeology Wales from selling out Welsh nature and residents, as it refused to cut ties with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd. It provides advice to the mining company critical to the application to downgrade the restoration of Ffos-y-fran.
Encourage Charley James-Martin and Rowena Hart to cut ties immediately with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to protect Welsh nature and natural heritage for our future generations.
Contact: Charley James-Martin and Rowena Hart at info@arch-wales.co.uk CC accounts@arch-wales.co.uk
Smith Grant LLP is an independent environmental consultancy working with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to convince Merthyr Tydfil Council of the pollution benefits of the new plan...despite media reports that the mining company was burying toxic waste at the site. The new plan also involved leaving a massive exposed coal-face and three colossal coal tips behind, which are already leaking elevated levels of metals into the surrounding environment.
Encourage Dr Tony Smith, Katrina Hawkins, and Dan Wayland of Smith Grant LLP to rescue their reputation by cutting their spin for this damaging attempt to downgrade the restoration of Ffos-y-fran:
Contact: Dr Tony Smith, Katrina Hawkins, and Dan Wayland at consult@smithgrant.co.uk
Mine Environment Management Ltd
Mine Environment Management Ltd is a geological engineering firm serving the mining industry. It's homepage makes it sound like this company is grounded in science to solve mining's environmental impacts... but instead it's working with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, a company bent on abandoning its environmental impacts despite windfall profits.
Encourage Marguerite Pearce to drop Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd as a client and restore its own reputation... we know other companies in the same industry have refused to work with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, putting integrity before profit.
Contact: Marguerite Pearce at info@memconsultants.co.uk
All information is provided based on the information we have access to. We have contacted, and encouraged, companies to reach out and provide evidence to correct any inaccuracies.
In 2015, David Stanley Lewis took over operations at the sprawling Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine from the previous operator, Miller Argent. The company became 'Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd' with a complicated corporate structure of parent companies and subsidiaries. After mining illegally for around 15 months beyond the end of its planning permission, Lewis's company declared it was unable to fund the devastated site's restoration. This is despite earning windfall revenue on the illegal coal mining and most recent annual accounts showing £91.2m allocated to the site's restoration. Now a number of local companies are working with David Lewis to help him get away with this - risking their reputation in the process...
In 2003, David Lewis was described by judge Jonathan Durham-Hall as "a pathological gambler who demonstrated pathological dishonesty." David Lewis, then 46, defrauded a bank of more than £88,000 in respect of gambling debts. Lewis's only Barrister said "What he did was unlawful, crass, stupid and dishonest."
In 2020, David Lewis was convicted of a serious speeding offense - caught driving at 99mph at the wheel of a Lamborghini Aventador. He was also charged with driving without due care and attention, although the Court later dropped this charge. Lewis was made to pay over £500 and slapped with 6 penalty points, only narrowly keeping his license.
In May 2025, an ex-worker whistle-blows on David Lewis's company for illegally burying toxic waste at the coal mine site. Natural Resources South Wales has launched a probe into the accusation.
In June/July 2025, David Lewis accepted a caution by police for physically assaulting Robert Davies, 75, chairman of the Robert Davies Partnership LLP outside his office in Newport, causing actual bodily harm, and leaving a scar on Davies' neck. However, Lewis subsequently broke the terms of that caution and was summoned to court to answer for the violent offence. Lewis evaded conviction as the time-period to prosecute for the offence was exceeded by the Crown Prosecution Service, which the victim (Davies) describes as "wholly unacceptable".
News source 3 (with CCTV footage)
In June 2025, Mr Stacey Lewis was hauled into court over offenses by his company - S L Recycling - which led to a massive fire breaking out in September 2024. The recycling site fire caused £79,000 worth of damage, polluted land and killed fish in a nearby river. "S L Recycling committed a number of breaches which hindered the fire service putting out the major fire", including a "flagrant safety breach". This prevented fire services putting out the fire more quickly, wasting the time of essential firefighters who spent over 24 hours engaged at the site - potentially risking the lives of others who may have had to call on the fire service in that time.
On July 1st, 2025, CAN organised an impactful drop-in session at the Senedd to reinforce the urgent need for action on Wales' coal legacy issues. The event, sponsored by Delyth Jewell MS, saw strong cross-party engagement, with Members of the Senedd (MSs) from Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats in attendance.
Framed as a call to action on two interconnected issues—the future of coal tips and the restoration of the Ffos-y-fran opencast site—the session demonstrated growing momentum for change across the political spectrum.
CAN supported Delyth Jewell’s proposed amendment to the Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill, which would rule out the sale of coal from disposed land for the purpose of burning. This simple but powerful clause would ensure that coal removed during the management of old coal tips cannot be fed back into fossil fuel supply chains—closing a loophole that could otherwise undermine climate commitments.
We also spoke with MSs to urge the Welsh Government to work constructively with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in Westminster to ensure the UK-wide coal mine ban currently under development includes coal extraction from coal tips. As it stands, tip-extracted coal is not covered—a glaring omission that risks opening the door to a new phase of coal exploitation under the guise of legacy management.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, which operated the Ffos-y-fran coal mine, is seeking to drastically reduce its contracted restoration obligations by up to £110 million. This is despite public filings showing £91.2 million already allocated for the site's restoration by the mining company. MSs attending our drop in session spoke with local residents we invited, viewed our gallery images of the coal mine site, and explored it for themselves via our 360 drone photos.
This raises serious concerns about transparency and risk—particularly given the site's proximity to local communities and the significant safety and environmental hazards involved. See our brief to find out what actions MSs can take today to deliver justice for Merthyr Tydfil.
Attendance at the drop in session by every Senedd party shows there is political appetite for action. Members across party lines recognised the urgency and legitimacy of the issues we raised. This is not about party politics—it’s about public safety, environmental justice, and the integrity of our climate commitments.
We thank every MS who took time to attend, engage with our materials, and listen to affected communities. We will continue to campaign so that Wales does not repeat the mistakes of its past but instead leads the way in managing its coal legacy responsibly.
This is what the 58,000 residents of Merthyr Tydfil face every day...and with a new plan by mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, to evade its responsibility to restore the site, this risks becoming a permanent reality. This would set a dangerous precedent for other quarries and large infrastructure projects too, with other companies also flaunting planning control and conditions with impunity. The Welsh Government must bring this disreputable mining company to heel and deliver the restored, safe, and green landscape promised to Merthyr Tydfil and Commoners for over 16 years.
If you're a Senedd Member, see our brief for what you can do today.
Find out more about Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine and join the campaign to get it restored.
Published: 02. 07. 2025
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd operates the recently closed sprawling Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine, next to the town of Merthyr Tydfil - home to around 58,000 people. In 2015, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd agreed a restoration plan with Merthyr Tydfil Council, which - after coal mining ended - would see the landscape put back to before coal mining began and with extensive habitat improvement to support nature to return to the area. But as soon as Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd saw there was no more profit to be made, it claimed that it had failed to set aside enough of its profits to fund the restoration plan it agreed to deliver back in 2015. Rather than taking Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to court over what would be a breach of contract and trust, Merthyr Tydfil Council invited the company to gut that restoration agreement by around £85 million in works, and with no punitive action against the company. This is despite all public records indicating Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd actually can afford the original restoration plan.
Within the last decade, Celtic Energy Ltd - another mining company, evaded well over £100 million in restoration costs and made a high quality restoration impossible at 4 opencast coal mines across South Wales. Communities living close to these sub-standard restorations still pay the price for Celtic Energy Ltd's profiteering. In fact, the Welsh landscape is littered with over 2,500 coal tips - abandoned by coal mining operations and now forming a huge burden estimated to cost £600 million to deal with.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd's attempt to evade the cost of the restoration it agreed to at Ffos-y-fran is therefore just the most recent instance of an industry that continues to cost some of the poorest communities in South Wales more than it ever gave them. But all is not lost for the 58,000 residents of nearby Merthyr Tydfil. We're standing alongside vocal campaigners in the area against this attempt by Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to short-change the town of Merthyr Tydfil by £91.2 million in restoration funds. You can help us by taking 2 min to object to this application on the local council's website.
Restoration plans are supposed to return the land back to a better state than before coal mining began. In reality this rarely happens, but it somehow still convinces planners to grant permission for mining. The new plan to downgrade the restoration tries to shift this 'baseline' state of the land by 17 years from before coal mining began to just after coal mining stopped. This is so the new restoration downgrade only has to improve a Mordor-like landscape ravaged by 16 years of coal mining, drastically lowering the threshold. But there's no justification for setting this new starting point.
The new downgrade proposes to permanently leave huge health and safety hazards in a landscape that is in easy walking distance from the population of Merthyr Tydfil, even encouraging the public into this area. There are tangible risks to life and limb from a very deep flooded void, to a sheer cliff edge and massive coal tips, one of which has already suffered large slip. All of these hazards are supposed to be removed from the landscape at the end of coal mining, but Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is putting its profits before people's lives.
The flooded quarry, Dorothea in Talysarn, Gwynedd is an abandoned quarry left in a similar state to what is now being proposed for Ffos-y-fran. But since 1990, there's been over 20 tragic deaths at Dorothea quarry.
3 colossal coal tips were supposed to be removed at the end of coal mining but the coal company wants to leave them where they are, despite the fact they leach toxic metals into the surrounding ecosytem, which it admits is home to protected Great Crested Newts. To make it worse, one of the many cuts to the previously agreed restoration plan is to stop maintaining the ponds which capture "chemical loads" from rainwater running off the colossal coal tips, admitting that they may 'silt up', which would potentially harm the endangered Great Crested Newts, as well as spread the "chemical loads" further into rivers and streams.
In one of the most blatant greenwash attempts we've seen in a while, this coal company suddenly cares deeply for minimising CO2 emissions. This, it claims, is why it proposes to leave the 37 million cubic metres of mine waste, soil, and rocks in the three massive dumps its created, rather than refill the opencast void with it - as was the original plan. Earth-moving requires HGVs burning deisel... but the emissions spared by leaving behind 3 colossal coal tips overshadowing 58,000 people would amount to just 2% of the illegal coal mining Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd did over 15 months after its planning permission expired. If the void is filled in with the coal tips, it'll also provide a greater carbon sink cancelling out that CO2 of these earthworks even more. This isn't about CO2, its about money - which Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd want to turn into even greater profits.
One of the main cuts to the original restoration plan is to leave 37 million cubic metres of mining waste, soil, and rocks in 3 colossal coal tips scattered around the site and towering above nearby residents of Merthyr Tydfil by up to 210 metres, disfiguring the landscape forever. One of these coal tips, nearest to residential homes, has already suffered instability with a recent and large coal tip slip 2024. The combined pressures of climate change, illicit scrambler bikes, and time could create further instability and dangers.
Many coal tips require regular maintenance and all disused coal tips must be monitored for instability. Long after the coal company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, has left with its tens of millions in profits, there will be ongoing maintenance costs likely to amount to millions and likely to be funded by tax payers.
Against official guidance, the aftercare period being proposed for nature restoration is just 5 years. Guidance recommends double this to 10 years to ensure tree and hedge plantings are successful before the coal company is allowed to wash its hands of responsibility. 5 years does not give long enough to see what plantings need to be replaced and to support the growth of those - instead, failed plantings will either be abandoned or the tax payer will have to pay for replanting and maintaining those areas.
Prior to opencast coal mining, the area formed part of the Gelligaer and Merthyr Common, an upland area of rough grassland grazed by sheep, cows and horses. Commoning is a way of life with a rich history dating back to 1066 and enshrined in the Magna Carta (1215).
The cuts to the original plan mean leaving behind a huge flooded mining void and 3 colossal coal tips. This will severely reduce the ability for Commoners to exercise their historic rights to graze their animals on the land. It also represents a broken promise to return this land to the Commoners after coal mining. Instead, the hazards that would be left behind pose risk of injury and death to the Commoners' livestock.
A whole way of life and a living part of our history is threatened by the cuts proposed to the original restoration plan, as well as the preservation of native Welsh breeds of sheep and cows like the South Wales Mountain Sheep, or Welsh Black cows.
Through the thick layer of greenwash, the real reason for trying to cut every corner on the original restoration plan is admitted by the company's representative: "It was established that there are insufficient funds available to achieve the 2015 restoration strategy and therefore an alternative scheme is required.". But it's a matter of public record that this is not true, with £91.2 MILLION set aside by the company to fund the original restoration plan. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd even claimed tax discounts on this from HMRC.
Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd illegally mined coal at Ffos-y-fran for over a year, profiting from record coal prices. Now, it wants to keep all the profits by trying to downgrade the restoration plan, breaking its promise to the 60,000 residents of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.
Your letter means much more if it's put in your own words why you want Merthyr Tydfil Council to deliver on its promise to return nature to the Ffos-y-fran opencast site, and reject the application to downgrade this huge restoration project. Here's some points you might choose to include, or go straight to the objection form:
This will take you to the Merthyr Tydfil Council's short objection form.
Ironically, the original approval of the opencast coal mine was to fund the restoration of the area which had been scarred by previous iron ore and coal mining. Key to the agreed restoration plan is that the huge overburden mounds (coal tips), currently dumped in 3 mountainous piles around the site, would be returned to the void, both of which were created by the opencast coal mining. That would return the site to the undulating landscape it was before and in sync with the rest of the lanscape in that area. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd agreed to this restoration plan in 2015, when it took over operations at the site.
The new proposal was published on Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council's website on Friday 21/02/2025. It is a plan to do as little as possible whilst justifying the company getting its hands on the £15 million currently held by the Council in an ESCROW account. But that £15 million was only intended to pay another company to make the site safe in case Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd goes bust. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd hasn't gone bust though, and should be stumping up around £75-110 million to pay for the restoration.
All public records suggests that the company has been putting funds aside for restoration costs - even claiming tax breaks on it from HMRC.
The 218-page environmental impact assessment for the new plan is overflowing with greenwash. The assessment celebrates how this opencast coal mine removed the scars of historic mining from the landscape, but then claims that the lack of restoration it's now proposing for the opencast coal mine will be an 'educational resource' and testament to the area's mining history.
The assessment also claims that not moving the overburden mounds back to the void will save CO2 and dust from HGV machinery - yet where were these concerns during the 15 years of mining and final year of illegal coal mining? The CO2 from these earth works will pale in comparison to the coal mining and burning that occurred at the site until recently. The mining company has always claimed that it can suppress dust pollution from the site - why is it suddenly unable to now?
The assessment fails to account for the impact that a loss of land and carbon sequestion will have over the decades. The State of Nature Wales 2023 reveals the devastating scale of nature loss across the country and the risk of extinction for many species. This is not the time to cut the restoration budget by around 80-90% of a huge site - much of which has been off-limits to nature for too long.
Mining company: Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd (MSW) is the current operator of the sprawling opencast coal mine, Ffos-y-fran, in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.
Claim: MSW claims "It was established that there are insufficient funds available to achieve the 2015 restoration strategy and therefore an alternative scheme is required." (EIA Scoping Report, July 2024). It is on this basis that a new application will be considered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.
MSW's 'solution': To downgrade the restoration scheme promised to surrounding communities to one that amounts to doing as little as possible. Even returning the tens of millions of cubic metres of coal tips to fill in the gaping void the company created and allowed to flood is considered "not feasible or economic" (EIA Scoping Report, July 2024)
Why MSW is offering to do any works: Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council holds £15 million in an Escrow account that it forced MSW to pay into (by court order). This was never intended to fund the original restoration agreement costed at £75-120 million, but that is what's happening now as MSW is claiming the company doesn't have the finances to pay for the restoration it previously agreed to fund. MSW wants this £15 million so is proposing a massively downgraded restoration plan and presenting this as the only option so the Council will pay this out to them. The Council is afraid the company will walk away if it is compelled to honour its contractual agreement to fund the restoration itself. If that happens, the Council would have to pay a new company to come in to restore the site, which'd cost more.
Our recommendation: Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has refused to pursue MSW to deliver on the contractually agreed level of restoration, and is poised to consider a downgraded plan by MSW which would affect surrounding communities living in Merthyr Tydfil for generations. Haven't they put up with enough after 16 years of coal mining, dust, and noise pollution? The Welsh Government urgently needs to launch an inquiry MSW finances and the Council's actions, issuing a 'holding directive' to prevent the Council approving the downgraded plan in the meantime.
To our knowledge, there has been no evidence submitted by MSW that it cannot fund the full restoration it is contracted to undertake. On the contrary, MSW's most recent, publicly available, financial statement on Companies House says "during the year the directors again reassessed the restoration provision based on current operating costs in particular diesel prices which have decreased significantly and increased plant hire costs, which as a result increased the restoration provision by £0.2m to £91.2m", by 31 Dec 2023, admitting record profits the year before, with its ultimate parent company, Gwent Holdings Ltd, reporting "The average coal price achieved increased by 94% to £151.66 per tonne" in its 2022 filing. This funding for restoration was based on Ffos-y-fran closing at the end of its planning permission in September 2022 - but it continued illegally mining coal for over a year after that, and even outside its licenced area, selling an extra 640,000 tonnes of coal - driving profits even further.
It's been claiming tax discounts to HMRC each year by phasing expected restoration costs that it now refuses to pay. This report goes on to say "The total costs of reinstatement of soil excavation and of surface restoration are recognised as a provision at site commissioning when the obligation arises. The amount provided represents the present value of the expected costs.".
This very much sounds like the company able and prepared to pay the restoration costs, and had already claimed tax discounts for it. So why is the company being allowed to duck tens of millions in what it owes?
As is typical of the mining industry, operations and financing is done through a complicated constellation of interconnected companies owned by family members (depictions of which are illustrative only and not based on any likeness). This kind of practice could help evade liabilities - though we're not suggesting that was the intention here. The following information is accurate to the best of our knowledge, please refer to Companies House for confirmation/further details:
David Lewis has already been convicted of criminal fraud, with Judge Durham-Hall telling Lewis: "When the truth was put before you you wriggled, twisted and whinged" and described Lewis as "a pathological gambler who demonstrated pathological dishonesty", concluding "What he did was unlawful, crass, stupid and dishonest." *we believe this article refers to the same David Lewis that is currently Director of MSW but will consider evidence to the contrary, so get in touch before you threaten to sue us again David 😉
The mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, is trying to do the residents of Merthyr Tydfil out of tens of millions of pounds worth of restoration at Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine by massively reducing the restoration it agreed to carry out at the end of 16 years of coal mining. To understand the lasting impacts this would have, and why we must resist it, we've made a guide on the community impacts of two other 'zombie' restorations in South Wales where the same happened.
Former opencast coal mining sites like East Pit, Margam Parc Slip, Nant Helen, and Selar are all recent examples of 'zombie restorations' carried out on budgets often amounting to 10% of what the promised restoration would have cost - sometimes even less. Ffos-y-fran looks set to join that list. Restorations are so-called because they are meant to return natural life to the area after coal mining has finished, often with promises of even more natural habitat and life than there was before. But just like zombies, these restorations is that they can appear fairly normal if you don't look too closely and you didn't know what it looked like before (depending on the movie!)... but there's little natural life in these areas after coal mining.
Often planning permission is granted for coal mining on the basis that the area will be restored with even better natural habitats and public amenity (access, facilities etc.) than before. Surrounding communities pay the price for the promised restoration with years of noise, dust, and disruption to their daily lives. When that restoration is inevitably denied by profiteering mining companies, communities report:
The UK was one of the first countries in the world to mine coal so industrially. Many of those coal mines were abandoned, not all of which are even mapped - though over two thousand recorded waste dumps (coal tips) in South Wales alone hints at the scale. Opencast coal mining left particularly visible scars on the landscape so the voids left over were meant to be filled in after the coal was extracted. When applying for coal mining permission, coal mining companies would sign contracts binding them to pay glowing nature reserves to be established after the coal was extracted. But most of the time, these companies siphon off the profits and declare bankruptcy, or find legal loopholes, to dodge their responsibilities to restore the mess they created.
Fortunately, Councils usually require that a small amount is paid to them by the coal mining company either at the start of a coal mine or as it progresses. But this is often around just 10% of the cost of restoring an opencast coal mine. So when the coal mining companies wriggle out of their contractual duty to clean up the mess they created, the Councils are often forced to then pay these same companies these small amounts of money to do basic works to make the site at least safer and less of an eye-sore for the communities living around it - but at 10%, that money doesn't go far, and can't erase the injustice of broken promises to those communities who also paid in years of coal mining, noise, dust, and disruption. Read our flagship report tracking restoration an seven recent sites across South Wales.
To restore the site of a sprawling opencast coal mine can cost over £100 million. The original Ffos-y-fran restoration scheme is estimated to cost £75-125 million. Merthyr Tydfil Council got £15 million from the coal mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd in 2019, after taking the company to court. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is now refusing to fund the restoration it agreed to, despite posting record profits and selling an extra c640,000 tonnes of coal than it was permitted to.
Despite the injustice of it, the Merthyr Tydfil Council's £15 million will theoretically go further if it's paid to Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to carry out a zombie restoration compared to a new company, as Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd already has its machinery and employees on site from when it was coal mining. The same happened when Celtic Energy Ltd refused to fund the restoration of four coal mines it operated in South Wales, stealing £millions from local communities and paying their Directors huge bonuses that year. Each Council paid Celtic Energy Ltd even more money to carry out zombie restorations at each site, leaving a legacy of bitterness in local communities that's alive today.
Zombie restorations typically cut corners in the following areas:
In May 2023, Coal Action Network wrote to the Climate Change, Energy, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) of the Welsh Senedd, informing the Committee of the ongoing illegal coal mining at Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, and the Council and Welsh Government’s refusal to use their enforcement powers to prevent the daily extraction of over 1,000 tonnes of coal. After being informed of this context, the CCEIC committed to a short committee inquiry on Ffos-y-fran and the broader failure of restoration of former opencast coal mine sites, with oral evidence sessions in April and May 2024, in which Coal Action Network participated. In August 2024, the CCEIC published its report on the handling of Ffos-y-fran and restoration of opencast coal mining sites across South Wales, citing ‘missed opportunities’ and referring to Ffos-y-fran as “symbol of the system's failures”. Both the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (MTCBC) responded in September 2024 to the 26 recommendations contained in the CCEIC’s report. A selection of their responses are summarised or quoted below with our analysis following each. This is the brief version, check out our full analysis report with accompanying pictures.
The Welsh Government should commission an independent review to assess the extent of, the funding needed to restore opencast sites to an acceptable level. The independent, review should consider what constitutes an “acceptable level” in consultation with local, authorities and communities.
Welsh Government isn’t liable for funding a programme dealing with open cast mining and land reclamation. Welsh Government has had statutory powers over ‘derelict land’ since April 2006, to protect public safety, create development land and enhance the environmental and social well-being of Wales. In recent years funding for such activity “has been restricted”. The Welsh Government is therefore concerned that assessing the costs to restore open cast sites may create an expectation that Welsh Government will then fund that restoration.
The operator and landowner is responsible for restoration and aftercare of opencast sites. They must also ensure that sufficient finance is set aside to enable them to meet restoration and aftercare obligations.
The Welsh Government repeat this through its response to the CCEIC’s recommendations, yet not once explain who is responsible when the operator and landowner fail to, or claim not to have, set aside sufficient finance to restore the site – which has happened at around 7 sites within the past 10 years in South Wales alone.
The Welsh Government should require local authorities to ensure all Planning Officers’ reports are available online alongside associated planning documents, including revised, restoration plans, where relevant.
We agree that transparency in planning decision making must be achieved, however, insisting on specific web publishing requirements at this time is premature.
The thrust of recommendation 9 is to ensure Planning Officer’s reports are made public, as Planning Officers’ reports summarise in plain English numerous technical planning documents. Public access to this key report would greatly improve transparency. The Welsh Government should urge Councils to make Planning Officers’ reports publicly accessible, where possible.
The Welsh Government should reconsider the proposal from the 2014 report to establish a virtual “Centre of Excellence” for restoration planning, particularly in light of potential coal-tip reclamation proposals, and lead discussions with local government on how to implement this.
Given our existing presumption against coal extraction, we expect “very few schemes being brought forward”. Our primary focus is to ensure that disused tips are safe and to deliver a modernised, fit-for-purpose regulatory regime. After the disused mine and quarry tips Bill is passed The Welsh Government will take “a more detailed strategic approach to mining and industrial legacy in Wales – this will need to include reclamation of disused tips and management of open cast mining.”
Contrary to the Welsh Government’s expectation of “very few schemes”, right now there are two schemes proposing coal extraction in South Wales, and a further application to downgrade the remediation scheme for Ffos-y-fran is expected before the end of this year. All these schemes would benefit from the kind of oversight the CCEIC are proposing with its recommendation for a Centre of Excellence, so action by the Welsh Government is needed now rather than years into the future.
The Welsh Government must engage with the UK Government with the aim of removing the Coal Authority’s statutory duty to maintain and develop an economically viable coal mining industry.
Whereas we would wish for the Coal Authority to remove its statutory duty to maintain and develop an economically viable coal mining industry, this duty has no practical effect in Wales… The Welsh Government is confident that it has in place the necessary policy and processes to ensure the climate emergency and nature emergency are fully reflected in any decision making.
Contrary to the Welsh Government’s confidence, its policies were deemed compatible with an opencast coal mine extension just last year in 2023. Additionally, the Welsh Government Minister for Climate Change Julie James wrote to the UK Government in 2021 stating that: “…we consider the statutory duty of the Coal Authority to develop and maintain a viable coal extraction industry must be removed if we are to achieve our policy ambitions…”, which is at odds with the Welsh Government’s response to the CCEIC’s recommendation, and there hasn’t been relevant Welsh policy evolution in the meantime to explain this new position.
The Welsh Government should review and update the Minerals Technical Advice Note 2 (MTAN2) to ensure it is fit for purpose, particularly in the context of new developments and coal tip remediation.
Minerals Technical Advice Note 2 Coal (MTAN2) contains comprehensive planning guidance which is robust about restoration and aftercare schemes for coal extraction. Along with all other planning policy, MTAN2 is kept under continual review to ensure it is kept up to date, fit for purpose and relevant.
The Welsh Government released MTAN2 in 2009, so it fails to reflect the many relevant policy developments over the past 15 years. The Welsh Government’s refusal to review MTAN2 is also bewildering given the policy has ostensibly failed to secure decent restoration of numerous coal mining sites across South Wales since its implementation. MTAN2 needs to be reviewed in line with the CCEIC’s recommendation.
The Welsh Government should incorporate provisions for the restoration of former opencast sites within the forthcoming Disused Tips (Mines and Quarries) Bill.
“In his Legislative Statement on 9 July 2024, the then First Minister made clear that inclusion of provisions relating to restoration of former opencast sites within the forthcoming Disused Tips (Mines and Quarries) Bill (the Bill) is not feasible at this time.” The Welsh Government cites further delay due to expansion of scope, and affordability as the key reasons for its position.
Coal tips are created by the act of deep coal mining. Overburden mounds are created by the act of opencast coal mining – there is little difference between the two in their risk or cause. The other hazards posed by abandoned and under-restored opencast coal mining sites should also be dealt with in the same legislation, given their shared cause, similar urgency, and methods of resolution (monitoring, landscaping, and earth works).
The Welsh Government must mandate public consultation for all stages of the restoration process, including when revised restoration plans are brought forward.
Public participation is very important at all stages of the planning process and is to be encouraged. The wide range of development types and scales mean planning legislation can only set a minimum standard of consultation…however we expect planning authorities to consult where the public is materially affected by the submitted details.
A restoration plan represents a promise made to nearby communities before they endure what is often years of disruption, noise, and dust during subsequent coal mining. Accordingly, those communities should be meaningfully consulted on proposed changes to that promise, with their feedback given significant weight in shaping associated planning decisions and conditions. We ask if the Welsh Government will issue guidance to Local Planning Authorities to this effect, to act on its acceptance in principle of the CCEIC’s recommendation.
The Welsh Government should advise local authorities to designate a specific officer as a point of contact for the local community, providing a direct communication channel between residents and local authorities on matters relating to sites or similar developments.
MTAN2 recommends the mining company appoints a site liaison officer. Additionally, Local Planning Authorities have a Planning Case Officer before an application is approved, and the enforcement team for after an application is approved.
Within Local Planning Authorities, Case Officers often say they are too busy with their main work to engage more with public enquiries and concerns. Given the potential impact of planning applications on nearby communities, there’s clearly a need to have a dedicated contact point for community input and involvement. We ask if the Welsh Government will issue guidance to Local Planning Authorities to this effect, to act on its acceptance in principle of the CCEIC’s recommendation.
The Welsh Government should advise local authorities to create online portals where residents can access up-to-date information on all stages of the restoration process.
Insisting on specific web publishing requirements at this time is premature. The Welsh Government is working with the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS) in exploring how digital solutions can improve the planning system in Wales. It is anticipated that the communication of decisions will form an integral part of that work. This will bring together the variability currently seen across authorities in a managed cost-effective way.
The Welsh Government should expedite online public access to planning documents, and have facilitating public engagement as an explicit aim of this work. The poor design of some planning portals currently create barriers to community members accessing critical information about developments that will potentially impact them. We ask the Welsh Government to centre a public consultation in its design of digitalised planning systems.
The Welsh Government should encourage the use of citizens' assemblies as forums for discussing the future of restoration sites, particularly where restoration failed to meet the original planning permission and compromises need to be made.
National planning guidance already recognises that well established liaison committees help to provide a better understanding of the impacts to be expected from mineral extraction. Many quarries and coal sites have established liaison committees which act as a forum for regular discussion and explanation of current problems. Where regular complaints are received or there is concern about local impacts the local planning authority should request that the operator cooperate in establishing regular meetings of a nominated group.
We agree with the National Planning guidance’s promotion of community liaison committees, but find execution is inconsistent, and in some cases, absent altogether – even where there are serious breaches of planning control and trust. This has left some participating residents we’ve spoken with feeling ignored and apathetic. We ask if the Welsh Government will reconsider the sentiment of the CCEIC’s recommendation, by strengthening the National Planning guidance on community liaison committees.
The Welsh Government must explore stronger enforcement mechanisms to address breaches of planning controls without delay, such as the mining activities that continued at Ffos-y-Fran after the licence expired.
The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides a range of effective enforcement options depending on the circumstances. Enforcement is focused on addressing the unacceptable impacts of unauthorised development rather than punishing the developer. Given the complex nature of planning impacts on both the environment and people it is sometimes acceptable to allow unauthorised activities to continue while consideration is given to the best course of action. That is what Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council concluded at Ffos-y-Fran. However, where unacceptable harm is happening, the law does currently provide authorities with powers to stop activities immediately, either through a stop notice or Court injunction.
Ffos-y-fran highlights that enforcement options are only robust to the extent that they can be implemented. For 15 months, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council believed the consequences of using enforcement options available to it were worse than allowing severe, long-term, harmful, and persistent breaches of planning control. This suggests that current enforcement options are not fit for purpose. Therefore we ask if the Welsh Government will reconsider the CCEIC’s recommendation and review existing planning enforcement options for their practical effectiveness in controlling largescale developments?
The Welsh Government should consider the broader implications of the failures at Ffos-y-Fran and implement systemic changes to prevent similar issues in future, including in relation to coal-tip reclamation sites.
Welsh Government coal extraction planning policy is clear that development proposals will only be approved in wholly exceptional circumstances. There will therefore be very few schemes being brought forward. At the present time, our primary focus is to ensure that disused tips are safe and to deliver a modernised, fit-for-purpose regulatory regime.
In the face of the Welsh Government’s expectation of ‘very few schemes’, there are currently two schemes in pre-application consultation (Bedwas Tips and an extension to Glan Lash) proposing coal extraction in South Wales, with remediation dimensions. Ffos-y-fran is a current example of the abject failure of planning control to secure the agreed restoration, even after allowing 15 months of illegal coal mining with an associated 1.6 million tonnes of CO2. Ffos-y-fran is not a lone example, but rather part of a history of planning control failing to deliver the agreed standard of restoration at East Pit, Selar, Margam Parc Slip, and Nant Helen within the past decade alone in South Wales. If the Welsh Government refuses to learn lessons from this egregious breach of its own national policy on coal mining, it calls into question whether the Welsh Government gives the CCEIC’s findings the gravitas they clearly merit. Such a refusal also risks the repeat of mistakes that led to avoidable harm to surrounding communities, the local environment and restoration liability, our shared climate, planning control, trust in the Local Planning Authority, and Wales’s reputation as a climate leader. We ask the Welsh Government to reconsider the relevance and urgency of reviewing the broader implications of the failures at Ffos-y-Fran and implement systemic changes to prevent similar issues in future, in-line with the CCEIC’s recommendation.
In the event that the water cannot be drained from the, voids at the site, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council must ensure that any, water bodies resulting from the restoration at Ffos-y-Fran are safe and provide, benefit to the local community.
Accepting this recommendation with no further comment will not reassure local communities, particularly given the lack of consultation to date, and unsafe conditions documented around the flooded voids at similar sites of Margam/Parc Slip and East Pit former opencast coal mines.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council must ensure, that the revised restoration plan reflects, as a minimum, the objectives of the, original restoration plan, including: safe public access across the East Merthyr, historic landscape with a new network of trails and footpaths; sustainable, wildlife habitats and biodiverse environmental sites; protection and restoration, of surviving heritage features; and the return of most of the site for traditional, commoners’ use.
Any revised scheme would inevitably differ in that overburden mounds 2 and 3 are, likely to be retained and a body of water will be incorporated into the scheme. The developer has also, indicated that they would wish to retain the motorcross facility.
Allowing the void to flood and letting the site operator leave its colossal coal tips (overburden mounds) above ground amounts to an abandonment of the original restoration objectives promised to local communities. As with MTCBC’s refusal to issue a Stop Notice to prevent the daily illegal mining of over 1,000 tonnes of coal, allowing a noisy motocross to be atop one of those coal tips that operated during this period of unregulated illegal activity, would be seen as another betrayal of local communities to the benefit of the mining company.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council should fully, involve local residents in the consideration of revised restoration plans for the, Ffos-y-Fran site.
We are disappointed at this glib and non-committal comment and invite MTCBC to properly respond to the CCEIC’s recommendation 24.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council should publish, the application for the revised restoration plan at Ffos-y-Fran and the planning, officer’s associated reports
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council:
Response: Noted
Our analysis:
We are disappointed at this glib and non-committal comment and invite MTCBC to properly respond to the CCEIC’s recommendation 25.
The Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) has released a critical report on the management of opencast coal mining in Wales, particularly focusing on Ffos-y-Fran, one of the last opencast coal mines in the region. The report describes Ffos-y-Fran as a “symbol of the system's failures”, highlighting significant shortcomings in oversight.
The CCEIC specifically calls out Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (MTCBC) for its inaction regarding illegal mining activities that continued after the mine's license expired in September 2022. The report questions whether MTCBC could have done more, noting the Coal Authority's concerns about the lack of a robust closure plan.
Local residents have expressed deep concerns about their treatment by public authorities. The committee emphasized the need for improved transparency and engagement, urging MTCBC to involve residents in the revised restoration plan.
Campaigner Chris Austin welcomed the report, stating it offers strong recommendations for policy changes regarding coal mine restoration. He expressed hope that the findings would lead to better outcomes for Ffos-y-Fran and prevent future issues.
We praise the CCEIC for investigating the failures that allowed illegal mining to occur without repercussions. The focus now must be on the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council implementing the committee’s concrete recommendations to restore justice to affected communities.
Among the 26 recommendations (see below for a full list), the CCEIC calls for the Welsh Government to ensure that policies on opencast coal mining are robust and protective of local communities. The Coal Action Network advocates for a clear ban on coal mining in Wales, similar to Scotland's 2022 decision, to prevent mismanagement in the future.
The report serves as a crucial reminder of the need for accountability and proactive measures in managing natural resources in Wales.
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Published: 08. 08. 2024
