Failure to restore opencast sites letting communities down

Following an inquiry process, with evidence taken from the public bodies involved, campaign groups and impacted local residents, the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee’s report was published in August 2024.

The strongly worded report condemns the long list of “broken promises” on restoration and shows a failed model of exploiting coal and communities, from policies to enforcement.

The report makes clear that mine owners are not being held sufficiently to account and are operating with a measure of impunity, such as breaking planning rules, not fulfilling obligations and leaving sites in a dangerous condition.

Ffos y Fran is a “symbol of the system's failures”, according to the report and emphasises the need for "robust policies, effective enforcement and genuine community involvement in site restoration."

The community in Merthyr Tydfil has been let down by this systemic failure. They have been left with a treacherous watery chasm in the ground, which could become a "permanent scar," on the landscape, rather than the restoration they were promised. The company is due to submit an application for a revised, and much cheaper, restoration plan by the end of the year.

As with every so-called ‘reclamation scheme', the benefits have flowed to the companies rather than the impacted communities - perhaps a fact worth remembering when evaluating the proposal to mine tips at Bedwas, also called a 'reclamation scheme.' 

Ffos y Fran is not the only site where an operator has "taken profits from a site but the money promised for restoration is not there." East Pit in Neath Port Talbot remains a dangerous site and source of constant worry for nearby residents after a cheap and insufficient restoration, as are the Park Slip site at Margam and Selar in Glynneath among others. These neighbourhoods and communities, which put up with the noise and dirt of opencast coal mining for years, deserve better.

There is in fact a pattern of badly restored opencast sites by private companies since the privatisation of coal in 1994.

According to the report, Welsh Government must take steps to "ensure policies are robust, up-to-date, and provide appropriate protections for local authorities and communities". It must also clarify its policies on coal tips remediation. As the report states:

"The Welsh Government’s current position leaves the door open for coal extraction in exceptional circumstances. Furthermore, a future Welsh Government could potentially reverse its position and reopen coaling opportunities in the south Wales valleys."

Haf Elgar, Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, who was called on to give evidence at the Senedd inquiry, says that the priority must be to "urgently and properly restore existing sites, especially Ffos y Fran - while the company still exists and has responsibility for the site.

"We need public bodies to work together and with the communities to assess and discuss what's needed, and how to fund it.

"And we must not be complacent and think this won't happen again - we face threats of coal tips being developed by private companies with the same promises, and the same risks for communities."

The only way to stop coal extraction and avoid these situations from developing in the first place is a coal extraction ban, and that's why Friends of the Earth Cymru, alongside many other organisations, is calling for one before it is too late.

In its response to the committee’s report, the Welsh Government reiterates its commitment to being a fossil free nation, and the strength of its coal policy. And states that they do not believe it’s likely that similar situations will arise again as a result.

However in the past month we’ve seen yet another attempt to restart opencast mining at Glan Lash in Carmarthenshire, and proposals for coal mining from the Bedwas tips are imminent.

The committee’s report is a stark warning that we cannot be complacent and must not be in a situation in another 10 years’ time where we wished we’d taken firmer action.

Coal must be part of our heritage rather than our future.

The Senedd is expected to discuss this report in plenary in November.