Coal mines Archives - Coal Action Network

New coal mining in England Banned!

Daniel — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:16:16 +0000

New coal mining in England Banned!

Yesterday the UK Government released its updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in which it has banned new coal mining in England. This is welcomed by Coal Action Network and our supporters who have worked to oppose new coal mines for many years. This updated policy prevents local authorities from approving new coal extraction in England.

Nature and climate issues dominate consultation

At the beginning of 2026 we asked our supporters to make submissions to the NPPF consultation, supporting the introduction of this policy. Of the 20,572 total consultation responses, Coal Action Network supporters were the third largest group of responders behind Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and the RSPB. This highlights the support for strengthened nature and climate policies.

Democratic mandate to end coal extraction

In response to the question “Do you agree with the proposed prohibition on identifying new coal sites and to the removal of coal from the list of minerals of national and local importance?” 56% of respondents agreed, 33% were neutral, and 12% disagreed (rounding errors in government statistics result in this not totalling 100%).

In response to the question “Are there any other exceptional circumstances in which coal extraction should be permitted?” 75% of respondents said no.

This shows the overwhelming levels of support for ending coal extraction. With legislation due to ban new licensing of coal extraction across the UK in this parliamentary term, the government has a democratic mandate to ban all types of new coal extraction.

After previously failing to ban coal mine licencing in the previous NPPF update, after our campaigning, we’re celebrate that the UK Government finally agrees to our position.

Our earlier campaigning

One remaining commercial coal mine in England

One small commercial coal mine, Ayle Colliery, remains operational on the Northumberland/Cumbria border and is unaffected by this ban. It currently has permission to mine until 2069, but it only provides small quantities of coal for local domestic use. There is also a large underground coal mine in South Wales, but England’s Planning Regulations to not apply to this.

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Glan Lash opencast extension refused…again

Daniel — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:00:29 +0000

Glan Lash opencast extension refused…again

Carmarthenshire County Council has rejected Bryn Bach Coal Ltd’s second attempt to expand and extend the currently dormant Glan Lash opencast coal mine, amidst hundreds of hand-written and online objections from residents in the county (see below for a small selection). The decision reflects a clear, strategic commitment to climate leadership, rare habitat protection, and safeguarding the health of surrounding communities. There are no live applications for new coal mines, and only two active coal mines remain in the UK – a large, underground coal mine in Aberpergwm, Glynneath and a small underground coal mine called Ayle Colliery in Northumberland. There is further a proposal (pre-application stage) to mine the Bedwas coal tips of waste coal.

Emissions

The proposed expansion was the mining company’s second application following unanimous rejection by Councillors of the company’s first application in September 2023. The second application reduced the amount of coal to be mined from 95,000 tonnes to 85,000 over 5.4 years, with a slightly smaller area to be excavated. However, the latest application remained incompatible with Wales’ coal and protected habitats policies. Rejecting this application has prevented the release of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 and methane, as well as exhaust emissions from years of heavy machinery. The would-be commercial buyers of this coal – as listed by the mining company – sell anthracite coal to burn on the international market, and undermining the mining company’s claims that coal mined at Glan Lash would not be burned. Selling Glan Lash coal on the international market would fuel dependence abroad on the world’s number one dirtiest fossil fuel, whilst the UK itself transitions to greener, cleaner industry and air quality.

Habitats

Beyond emissions, an independent ecologist’s report outlines in stark terms how the mine expansion would have destroyed a further 2.5 hectares of woodland, including sections of listed ancient woodland, as well as over 400 metres of precious hedgerow habitat. It also would have delayed the excavated area’s restoration (which planning permission originally required to be delivered in 2019) by a further 5.4 years. The mining company originally committed to start restoring the site in 2018, but delayed this with successive attempts to extend mining instead. These delays have coincided with the deterioration of protected habitats on the site such as those supporting the threatened Marsh Fritillary butterflies, whose numbers have plummeted across the UK by 64% since just 2005. This refusal paves the way to finally require the company to return the land for the benefit of nature and local communities.

30m to the nearest house

With the closest homes just 30 metres from the edge of the opencast site, the application was also clearly incompatible with the 500-metre minimum buffer zone required by Welsh Government policy to protect surrounding communities from excessive noise, dust, and air pollution and disturbance.

Welsh and UK policy

Carmarthenshire Planning Authority’s decision reflects alignment with the Welsh Government’s positions on coal, climate, and nature recovery, the UK Government’s commitment to prevent new coal mining licences, and the international movement to phase out coal.

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Campaigners persuade Welsh Gov’t to intervene in £91.2M cleanup of Ffos-y-fran

Daniel — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:35:56 +0000

Campaigners persuade Welsh Gov’t to intervene in £91.2M cleanup of Ffos-y-fran

TL;DR summary

Mining company Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd is trying to dodge its agreed £91.2 million restoration of the Ffos-y-fran coal mine, proposing to cut 90% of the cleanup work. Following relentless campaigning from local residents, Coal Action Network, FOE Cymru, and others, the Welsh Government has stepped in to hold a Public Inquiry – in which local residents urgently need funding for legal representation to take on the company.

Key points

The Problem: After mining unlawfully past its deadline, Merthyr Ltd is attempting to evade a £91.2m cleanup, threatening to leave local communities with polluted mine water, collapsing cliffs, and dangerous coal tips.
The Council failure: Merthyr Tydfil Council spent 72 hours meeting with the mining company and zero hours with residents, sparking fears of a ‘cosy relationship’ and accusations of unexplained support.
Major campaign win: In April 2026, Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Evans MS “called in” the decision, taking control away from the council and ordering a Public Inquiry under a Welsh Minister.
What’s at stake: Enforcing the “polluter pays” principle, protecting biodiversity, securing the safety of a 400-hectare site for 58,000 residents, and preventing future coal tip disasters on the 60th anniversary of Aberfan.

David and Goliath – our money’s on David

The United Valleys Action Group (UVAG)—a local resident-led group—is fighting the mining company’s deep-pocketed legal team at the inquiry. They urgently need funding to hire expert witnesses and legal representation to ensure nature is restored.

The longer version

BACKGROUND

Ffos-y-fran is a story of corporate negligence and regulatory failure. After extracting profits for 16 years—including mining unlawfully past its 2022 deadline—mining company, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, is now trying to wriggle off the hook for the £91.2m site restoration which was a condition of the mining. If allowed, this would leave local communities with a gaping void flooded with polluted mine water, a 100m crumbling cliff face, and 3 huge coal tips – one already collapsing and another warned to become unstable. The tax payer shouldn’t be left with the company’s clean-up bill, and the town of Merthyr Tydfil deserves nature to be restored after enduring 16 years of mining noise, dust, and disruption.

CAMPAIGN TO ESCALATE TO THE WELSH GOVERNMENT

Alongside other groups and supporters, Coal Action Network campaigned hard to block this mining company’s attempted evasion. We were concerned the Council would be pressured into accepting new terms by the mining company to do only a tiny proportion of the planned restoration. Documents released under FOI indicate that the Council may agree to what the company wants in fear the mining company would otherwise abandon the site entirely, and run off with the money. Although we generally think decisions should be made locally, Merthyr Council’s 72 hours of meeting with the mining company and zero hours of meeting with communities made us appeal to the Welsh Government ‘call in’ the decision to be made by a Minister after a Public Inquiry. This would take the decision out of the hands of the compromised Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, already accused by a Senedd Committee of “epic mismanagement”.

SUCCESS! DECISION CALLED-IN BY WELSH GOVERNMENT

In April 2026, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans MS, authorised that the matter of Ffos-y-fran’s restoration be decided by a Welsh Minister following a public inquiry. This has taken the decision out of the hands of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. We welcome this decision, but this is only the beginning of our work now. The stated grounds/scope of the call in are:

Claims the restoration scheme is based on cost rather than adequate planning outcomes;
Conflict with national polices on site remediation;
Wide interest in coal policy and successful remediation;
The lack of remediation safeguards for mining sites creating a wide precedent;
Concern about new coal tips being left in place;
Procedural concerns about how the planning authority has processed the application and its handling of enforcement at the site; and
Concerns regarding the integrity of the site operator.

PUBLIC INQUIRY

At a public inquiry, a neutral Planning Inspector will look at all the documents already submitted, and hear from expert witnesses arguing to grant or refuse a planning application. In this case, the planning application is by the mining company to gut around 90% of the work from the agreed restoration plan. It may seem obvious to refuse this application and get the company to get on with the restoration work it contractually agreed to and should have completed by the end of 2024. But the mining company has deep pockets to fund greenwash, and the Council seems to be on their side.

United Valleys Action Group (UVAG) is a group of residents local to Ffos-y-fran, and their supporters. UVAG needs to show the Planning Inspector the truth of Ffos-y-fran, and what’s at stake. To do this, UVAG needs funding to get legal representation and call expert witnesses in the highly technical Public Inquiry to come. As a small, resident-led group, UVAG doesn’t have the deep pockets that the mining company has, or the team of staff that the Council has. It needs your help – don’t let the mining company run off with £91.2 million-worth of nature restoration work.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Another setback Wales can’t afford in reversing biodiversity decline as one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world.
An irreversible erosion of the polluter pays principle – opening Wales up to polluting industries who also refuse to clean up its mess later. This is how Wales became home to over 2,500 coal tips and widespread heavy metal contamination. Enough is enough.
£91.2 million restoration of a 400ha site on the doorsteps of Merthyr Tydfil’s 58,000 population.
A dangerous landscape that will be a risk to life and limb of young people once the company’s security team leaves the site.
Three more coal tips added to Wales list of disused coal tips in the same year that the Tips Authority is created and on the 60^th anniversary of the tip slip disaster in Aberfan.

More Less

360 views of Ffos-y-fran

Opencast vs deep coal mines: what’s the difference?

Daniel — Thu, 07 May 2026 11:54:22 +0000

Opencast vs deep coal mines: what’s the difference?

UK transition from deep to opencast mining

Deep (AKA underground) coal mines have a long history in the UK dating back some 400 years. On the other hand, opencast coal mines only became common between 1940 and 60, becoming the dominant mining method in the UK as deep coal mining entered rapid decline. Opencast coal mining techniques were largely imported from the USA (Hansard, 1950) together with the heavy machinery they required. In 1942, the UK Government established the Directorate of Opencast Coal Production under the Ministry of Works to exploit coal seams near the surface (National Archives, n.d.) that were too shallow or fragmented for deep-mining techniques (Ritchie & Roser, 2019). The UK Government encouragement of opencast coal mining was partly the result of a need to boost coal production and a wartime shortage of labour to do it (British Geological Survey). Opencast coal mining was cheaper and used less labour – it also did not require the specialised skills that deep coal mines do. Although opencast coal mining was introduced as an emergency wartime measure, it persisted due to its economic viability compared with deep coal mining. Yet, despite this transition from deep to opencast coal mining, as of 2026, deep coal mines have outlived opencast coal mines as the only active mines remaining in the UK – namely, Aberpergwm in South Wales and the relatively small Ayle Colliery in Northumberland.

The Opencast Coal Act 1958 provided the first comprehensive legal framework for the industry, regulating land acquisition and restoration requirements as the practice moved from emergency status to a long-term economic strategy. However, today we see that this legislation and subsequent legislation was not strong enough to secure restoration of the sprawling opencast coal mines.

Mining legacy issues for the climate, public safey, and tax payers

Deep/Underground coal mines

METHANE: As the name suggests, mining goes deep underground where there are often higher concentrations of methane that are stored there under the pressure of the rocks and soil above it. Excavation allows that methane to escape (fugitive methane emissions) into our atmosphere. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Even after coal mining has finished, deep coal mines can continue leaking methane gas for decades, driving climate chaos and posing dangers to the public of explosion and suffocation near to shafts. Internationally, there is growing awareness of this issue and attempts to monitor and control leakage, but progress is slow. An estimated 40 million tonnes of methane leaked from coal mines in 2024.

SURFACE STABILITY: When mining stops so does pumping water out to keep the mines dry. As the water slowly fills the mine from surrounding soil up to the water table, it can -along with time – it can cause the collapse of the pillars left in underground mining to hold up the roof of underground tunnels. This can then create ‘sink holes’ on the surface, and subsidence for houses built above tunnels. With the location of earlier mining works often undocumented, it is not always possible to assess the risks.

WATER POLLUTION: When deep mines close, pumping out the water is stopped and the water levels rebound up to the ‘water-table’. As water fills the mining tunnels and shafts, it reacts with minerals like pyrite, creating acidic, iron-rich water which can kill aquatic live if it enters rivers as well as pollute drinking water. At a number of mines around the UK, the Mining Remediation Authority pumps up mine water to clean it, then return it to the mine.

UNCOVERED MINE SHAFTS: known as ‘adits’, these are vertical or near vertical shafts that can go down a long way – originally used with a lift system to lower miners to the right levels to dig horizonal tunnels along coal seams. As records have been lost or were never created for the earlier coal mines, not all the adits are known. This presents a falling danger for walkers or explorers. If you see an uncovered adit, please report it to the Mining Remediation Authority.

Opencast coal mines

SOIL DEGRADATION: Unlike deep coal mines, opencast coal mines strip away large areas of vegetation, top soil, sub-soil, rocks, and non-target coal (called ‘overburden’) to get at the target coal beneath it. UK planning policy now requires mining companies to store these different layers separately and avoid compaction so they can be replaced like a lasagne after coal mining ceases. In reality, though, they are often mixed and compacted, drastically reducing their fertility and the viability of agriculture or nature return for decades. Over 70% of mined land globally suffers from soil degradation.

FLOODED VOIDS: Opencast coal mining creates bowl-like voids in the earth with a track spiralling down around the edge of the void for HGVs to access the sides and bottom and carry the ‘overburden’ and coal out of the void. These voids can be huge. It is a conditional of planning permission for an opencast coal mine that once mining ends, the company refills the void with the ‘overburden’ they removed, leaving a level surface. However, the coal has been carried away and burned so additional “soil-forming material” would be needed to refill the void completely. This can be expensive, along with moving millions of cubic metres of overburden from where it has been dumped back into the void. This part of restoration alone can cost up to £100 million. As mining has finished by this point, there is no further profit to be made and the incentive for mining companies to evade delivering on their agreement keep that money means a degraded landscape and voids and are more often left behind to slowly flood from ground water and rain. Although these are euphemistically called ‘lakes’ by mining companies, these unplanned and huge bodies of water represent a flood worry for nearby communites and can be a hazard for swimmers as the water is very deep and cold. Due to the exposed coal face, some water bodies also test for hightened levels of metal pollutants.

NOISE AND DUST: As the name indicates, opencast coal mines are open to the air and wind. Where explosive ‘blasting’ methods are used to expose coal seams, the sound and shockwaves isn’t shielded by the surrounding ground as it is in underground mines. Dust from blasting and from HGV movements can be carried significant distances by the wind. Together, these activities can severely impact nearby residents. Where the dust is from the coal, it can also carry heavy metals that pose a health risk, particularly to asthma sufferers.

Both

COAL TIPS: often referred to as coal tips for deep mines and overburden mounds for opencast coal mines, they are similar in composition and risks. These tips are where everything is dumped that is between the mining company and the target coal – vegetation, top soil, sub-soil, rocks, and non-target coal. These tips can be colossal in size, and some earlier ones have now settled and revegetated to such a degree that it is unrecognisable as a tip. However, both new and old tips suffer long-term stability risks, particularly as rainfall increases with climate change. The last tragedy to occur from coal tip was the Aberfan disaster of 1966, where coal tip became unstable during heavy rain and slipped down a valley into a school, killing 144 children and teachers. However, since 2020 there have been two near misses, also in South Wales. In wales, there is a new multi-million pound scheme to monitor tips for slippage and carry out stabilisation works if needed, to avoid further slips that could end in tragedy.

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Lifting the lid on damage done by David Stanley Lewis of Pontypool

Daniel — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:22:35 +0000

Lifting the lid on damage done by David Stanley Lewis of Pontypool

“Dishonest” and convicted fraudster became Director of Ffos-y-fran coal mine

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…

Convicted of fraud to feed gambling habit

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.” News source

Gambling with lives 17 years on

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. News source

Probed for illegally burying waste at coal mine

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.

News source 1
News source 2

Back in court, this time for violent assault

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 1
News source 2
News source 3 (with CCTV footage)

Birds of a feather – close family member also convicted in court

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.

News source 1

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Glan Lash opencast “off-set” exposed

Daniel — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 13:34:46 +0000

Glan Lash opencast “off-set” exposed

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

Densely planted trees, stunted and immature

Dead mature trees

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Who’s enabling massive restoration cuts at Ffos-y-fran?

Daniel — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 13:57:00 +0000

Who’s enabling massive restoration cuts at Ffos-y-fran?

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

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

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

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.

Ffos-y-fran

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The human cost of the stolen £millions

Daniel — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 12:46:22 +0000

The human cost of the stolen £millions

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 cut-price restorations in South Wales where the same happened.

Ffos-y-fran coal mine

Cut-price restoration failures

Former opencast coal mining sites like East Pit, Margam Parc Slip, Nant Helen, and Selar are all recent examples of under-restored areas carried out on budgets as little as 10% of what the promised restoration would have cost – sometimes even less. Ffos-y-fran looks set to join that list. Restorations 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 whilst some of these restorations can superficially appear complete if you don’t look too closely and you didn’t know what it looked like before, the soil is wrecked, habitats are struggling to take hold, and there are often wire fences and safety warnings about the hazards left behind.

Restoration campaigning

Communities paying the price

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:

Not being able to move on
Loss of place and history
Reduced access to green space
Safety risks

Deep dive on funding restoration works

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 f lagship 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 640,000 tonnes of coal than it was permitted to.

Despite the injustice of it, the £15 million held by Merthyr Tydfil Council’s will theoretically go further if it’s paid to Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd to carry out a cut-price restoration compared to a new company, as Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd still has a small amount of its machinery and employees on site from when it was coal mining. The same happened when Celtic Energy Ltd refused to fund the promised 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 the what little in restoration funds they held to Celtic Energy Ltd to carry out cut-price restorations at each site, leaving a legacy of bitterness in local communities that’s alive today.

Budget restorations typically cut corners in the following areas:

Huge voids created buring coal mining are allowed to flood – rather than refilling it by returning many thousands of tonnes of overburden (soil that was removed to access the coal underneath).

RESULT: The exposed coal-face to the water leaches heavy metals such as mercury and cadium into the water, and its very deep and cold

Overburden mounds are left wherever they were dumped, and with just the sheerest sides made more sloping.

RESULT: This is sub-soil so its stoney, can be high in heavy metals, and the fertility is low so little will grow

Concrete platforms and even structures are left behind to rust

RESULT: A dangerous area for young people and animals to explore and an eyesore

Aftercare to maintain habitat creation is cut back on, dead tree saplings aren’t replaced etc

RESULT: sparse patches of grass and trees, and erosion off overburden mounds

Stop Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine becoming the next restoration failure

Ffos-y-fran coal mine

Research on restoration

The post The human cost of the stolen £millions appeared first on Coal Action Network.

Cross-party support at Senedd drop-in session to act on coal legacy

Daniel — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:25:00 +0000

Cross-party support at Senedd drop-in session to act on coal legacy

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.

Coal tips: backing a better Bill

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.

Ffos-y-fran: getting it restored

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.

Building political will

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.

360 exploration of Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine

Daniel — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:10:26 +0000

360 exploration of Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine

Explore the churned up landscape from different views below, drag around the viewpoints and go full-screen for an immersive experience.

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.