Restoration Archives - Coal Action Network

60 years after Aberfan: coal tips still loom over Welsh valleys

Daniel — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 10:06:23 +0000

https://www.peoplescollection.wales/collections/376929

60 years after Aberfan: coal tips still loom over Welsh valleys

21 October 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster. On this day in 1966, a colliery spoil tip (or ‘coal tip‘) collapsed after heavy rain, sending a devastating landslide down the hillside into Pantglas Junior School and neighbouring homes. The disaster claimed 144 lives – 116 children and 28 adults.

Sixty years later, the shadow of Aberfan remains deeply etched into the collective memory and identity of the Welsh valleys – a profound reminder of the heavy human cost paid for the nation’s industrial past.

As memorial events, quiet reflections, and commemorative gatherings take place across Wales this October, we honour the lives lost. But we must also look at the landscape today. The legacy of industrial extraction is not just a chapter in the history books; it remains a living, ongoing issue for valley communities. This tragedy was not inevitable – it was one borne of irresponsible industrial practices to maximise profit and minimise cost – it was avoidable.

A living risk in the Welsh Valleys

The landscape of South Wales is still marked by poorly restored or unrestored opencast mines and more than 2,500 coal tips. Climate change, increasingly intense rainfall, and severe weather events heighten the risk of coal tip slips.

Recent incidents – such as the major coal tip slips in Tylorstown (2020/2022) and Cwmtillery (2024) – could have caused further tragic loss of life. They serve as poignant reminders of how closely contemporary valley life remains tied to its coal heritage. Yet, even now there is a risk that three new disused coal tips will be created in South Wales.

Ffos-y-fran – 3 new coal tips to be left behind?

Impacted community campaigners, Tina and Ralph

Tina Honeyfield and Ralph Connor have dedicated over a decade to community regeneration projects in Cwmtillery. In 2024, their own home was heavily impacted by the coal tip slip nearby:

“Although our experience pales in comparison to the unimaginable tragedy of Aberfan, hearing the roar of the tip as it slipped and feeling powerless as the slurry flooded our home gave us a sense of how horrific the events of 1966 must have been. Tip sites still represent a genuine risk to communities and the same systemic failures are to blame. From the point that coal waste was first discarded on Welsh hillsides to further unbridled 19th-century capitalism, remediation has largely been reactive rather than proactive. With the climate crisis exacerbating risk and local governments woefully underfunded, new approaches must be found to mitigate dangers – and we believe these lie in the third sector. Bringing tip sites into community stewardship and managing them alongside strategic partners for the benefit of people and nature would finally give the people most affected agency over them.”

Cwymtillery, 6 months after coal tip slip showing homes below and how narrowly this avoided another tragedy

Moving beyond a narrow mandate

The establishment of the new Coal Tips Safety Authority (Disused Tips Authority) by the Welsh Government is a welcome step towards monitoring and assessing structural stability. However, physical safety from landslides is only one part of the equation.

We work with valley communities who continue to feel not enough is being done more generally about the safety risks and environmental condition of opencast scars on their landscape, and complain that the derelict condition of coal tips can attract anti-social behaviour. The new Disused Tips Authority won’t address these concerns with its current remit – we need the Welsh Government to commit to taking action.

From liabilities to community assets

At Coal Action Network, we believe local residents deserve a direct say in how these lands are managed and restored.

We are actively engaging with Local Planning Authorities to ensure former coalfield communities gain the tools and support needed to shape their own environments. By restoring ex-opencast sites and coal tips into high-quality, accessible green spaces, we can transform historic industrial liabilities into thriving community assets for generations to come.

Coal2Canopy Varteg case study

Daniel — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:24:02 +0000

Coal2Canopy research basis and case study

Coal2Canopy was inspired by a 30-year research project studying successful tree planting techniques, species, and combinations of species into compacted, low-nutrient coal tip surfaces in Varteg, Pontypool, South Wales. This research project was underpinned by a vision to support ecological resilience, community regeneration and ecosystems services, whilst also mitigating the climate and biodiversity crises.

The practical research project was started by started by Emeritus Professor Martin Haigh and his team of volunteers in 1990 – the Cradle for Nature team. Their aim was to explore practical and sustainable ways of reclaiming old opencast coal sites in South Wales and provide a ‘cradle for nature’. Thousands of trees have now been planted at the original research site, and records have been kept each year detailing tree growth, soil condition and increases in biodiversity.

In 2022, Stump Up For Trees took over the research project and continues to monitor its progress. On the last survey, SUFT documented flocks of Siskins feeding on Birch seeds and Fieldfares feeding on Hawthorn. There was also a huge variety of mosses, lichens and fungi. All indicators of a happy and healthy woodland ecosystem being established. This is a testament to the tremendous passion and dedication by the Cradle for Nature team over the years.

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.

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360 views of Ffos-y-fran

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

The post Glan Lash opencast “off-set” exposed appeared first on Coal Action Network.

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.

Tip closest to residents to remain untouched

Daniel — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 11:09:00 +0000

Tip closest to residents in Trethomas to remain untouched

This information seeks to clarify which tips are included in ERI Ltd’s proposal to mine and then flatten certain coal tips in Caerphilly. The tips selected appear to be on the basis of which would be most profitable to mine of the ‘waste coal’ they contain, rather than which most endanger residents. This is not surprising as the proposal is being brought by a for-profit mining company, but it does differ from how the company is presenting itself as an expert in remediation rather than mining.

Tip 90319 that most concerns residents is closest to them – it backs onto the gardens of some residents. It’s also a site with concerns surrounding possibly toxic elements contained within the tip. Due to its proximity to residents, it’s also seen a higher proportion of intentionally set fires that the fire service has been called out for compared to the other tips sited further away. There are also more tangible signs of the tip’s industrial past and ongoing monitoring than the other, more naturalised tips. If the priority was to remediate the coal tips, this tip would be prioritised. Instead, this tip has been excluded from ERI Ltd’s proposal to mine coal tips, with the promise to use some of those profits to then flatten the coal tips and remediate the area.

Nature returning and reclaiming tip 90319

Despite the concerns around toxic elements in tip 90319 and the visible industrial heritage of the site, there are signs of nature slowly returning to the area. It’s vital that any measures to remediate this coal tip – or any others – in future take full stock of the nature that has regrown. If there are legitimate safety risks, though, this must be prioritised.

Lethal landscape: cuts to Ffos-y-fran mine restoration puts community at risk

Daniel — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:13:00 +0000

Lethal landscape: cuts to Ffos-y-fran mine restoration puts community at risk

A new plan to cut every corner

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.

We’ve been here before…

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.

Our full report on why these cuts must be rejected

We’re back in the Senedd giving oral evidence

Daniel — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 14:24:00 +0000

We’re back in the Senedd giving oral evidence on the for Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill

We were invited for the second time to give oral evidence to the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee of the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) on 05th February 2025. We shared the panel with Haf, Director of FOE Cymru, to provide our opinion on the weaknesses, strengths, and improvements that need to happen for the Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill to deliver real benefits for Welsh people living in the shadow of coal tips.

The unrecognised risk

We emphasised that the The Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill, in its current form, carries the very real risk that it could encourage ‘remining’ so-called waste coal from coal tips under the guise of making those coal tips safe. There is a live proposal to do exactly this for two coal tips in Bedwas, Caerphilly. Read more about coal tip re-mining and safety.

Our message to the Senedd Committee: include a provision in this new Bill prohibiting coal extraction for commercial gain from disused coal tips.

Last time we gave oral evidence in the Senedd…

In April 2024, we were invited to give oral evidence on Welsh coal mine restoration, with a focus on Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine. Check out this video of our debut session with the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee.