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Ffos-y-Fran, the UK’s largest opencast mine, must close after Merthyr councillors turned down an application to keep it open until March 2024.

The bid by the mine’s owners was rejected by Merthyr Tydfil Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, April 26, in line with officers’ recommendations

This latest application sought to change a condition that all coal extraction shall stop no later than September 6, 2022.

The application was looking to allow for an extension to the lifespan of the mineral extraction and restoration with coal extraction to stop by March 31, 2024 and final restoration to be completed by June 30, 2026 (as opposed to the original date of December 31, 2024).

The report said this would allow for the remaining 240,000 tonnes of coal to be extracted with the main market being Tata Steel at Port Talbot but that it is also used by a variety of smaller markets including steam locomotives (heritage tailways) and steam engines/boilers as well as domestic heating within homes.

But Merthyr planning officers said it failed to clearly demonstrate that the extraction of coal is needed to support industrial non-energy generating uses, that extraction is required in the context of decarbonisation and climate change emission reduction, to ensure the safe winding-down of mining operations or site remediation or that the extraction contributes to Welsh prosperity and a globally responsible Wales.

They also said it failed to provide an adequate contribution towards the restoration, aftercare and after-use of the site, to the detriment of the surrounding environment.

The Welsh Government issued a direction to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council that, unless authorised by Welsh ministers, the council can’t grant permission for the current application to extend the period of time coaling allowed on the Ffos-y-Fran site.

Campaign group Coal Action Network has previously raised concerns that mining has been happening on the site, which is just outside of Caerphilly County Borough, since September 2022 when planning permission ended. In response to questions from councillors, a planning officer said they would be reviewing the enforcement situation if the application was refused.

Committee heard that there is £15m in an Escrow account but that this won’t be enough to meet restoration costs with an officer estimating them to be between £75m and £125m.

A similar mine was proposed for land between Fochriw and Rhymney by Fros-y-Fran’s then owners Miller Argent (before it was subsequently sold to Gwent Investments Ltd).

The controversial plans to mine Nant Llesg at the top of the Rhymney Valley were finally rejected by the Planning Inspectorate in September 2018 – almost three years after developers initially lodged their appeal.

The plans drew huge opposition from the communities in the north of Caerphilly County Borough affected by the work of Fros-y-Fran.