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Coal mine restoration

In the past two decades, every mining company was made to sign contracts guaranteeing the area would be restored again as a condition to get permission to mine coal in the first place. Despite this, mining companies have repeatedly extracted the profitable coal, then evaded the bulk of its restoration obligations. Sites this applies to include Margam Parc Slip, Eastpit, Selar, and Nant Helen (operated by Celtic Energy Ltd). Most recently, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, the mining operator of the Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine is also refusing to use the £91.2m restoration fund to clean up the site.

These mining companies leave behind mining voids, coal tips, and damaged landscapes, preventing communities from moving beyond coal with the rest of the UK. These former coalfield communities typically suffer higher levels of deprivation than the rest of the UK, making access to safe, green space even more essential. We seek to empower these communities to reclaim their local heritage from one of disempowerment and corporate greed to one of empowerment and creativity. Following on from our flagship report identifying sites of coal mining that are under-restored, we seek to broker partnerships between landowners and local community groups to shape these spaces.

ACTIONS & NEWS

Westminster: our evidence on Wales’ coal legacy

Coal Action Network was invited to attend Westminster where we gave evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee in their inquiry about the environmental and economic legacy of Wales’ industrial past, alongside Friends of the Earth Cymru. This inquiry was opened in…

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

16 years of opencast coal mining in Ffos-y-fran has generated colossal overburden mounds, also known as slag heaps or coal tips. There are three coal tips, with the third being the largest, and cumulatively accounting for 37 million cubic metres of colliery spoil, rocks, and soil…

The human cost of the stolen £millions

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…

Senedd Committee reports ‘Missed Opportunities’ in Restoring Nature at Opencast Coal Mines in Wales

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…

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

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

New research: coal mine restoration in Wales

This report combines field and desk-based research to shine a light on the continuing failure of Local Planning Authorities to honour promises made to local communities about how and when opencast coal mines would be restored. The research finds that mining…

Webinar on restoration in South Wales

This webinar marks the launch of a report, ‘Coal Mine Restoration in South Wales’, revealing the injustices surrounding of 7 opencast coal mines in South Wales…

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