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A revised restoration plan for the Ffos y Fran opencast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil could be submitted early next year, amid calls for the site to be restored and made safe.

Merthyr Council has said there are legal proceedings related to Ffos y Fran, but the authority is in talks with Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd. It said current discussions indicate a planning application for a revised restoration plan will be submitted to Merthyr Council in early 2024.

Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, the company that runs the site, said: “Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd continues to hold constructive dialogue with Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council and other relevant stake holders on the revised restoration plan and there will be no further comment until the plan is finalised and approved by the relevant parties.”

But Chris and Alyson Austin, who live near Ffos y Fran, have made an urgent appeal to Merthyr Tydfil Council and the Welsh Government to ensure the owner restores the site, according to Friends of the Earth Cymru.

Merthyr (South Wales) Limited announced its intention to stop mining on November 30, 2023, but campaigners are concerned that even if the company does stop extracting coal, they will leave without restoring the site as promised.

Mr and Mrs Austin, who are members of Merthyr Friends of the Earth, have been campaigning to stop it for the last two decades.

Alyson Austin said: “We don’t want them to just leave. We want them to restore the site. The company was given permission to mine here on the condition that the site was fully restored afterwards and handed back to the community.

“The sign at the entrance says ‘Ffos y Fran Land Reclamation Scheme.’ The ‘reclamation’ promised meant returning the land to a better, usable state, not leaving us with a huge, horrible mess. It must be restored, otherwise it will be an ugly, dangerous place, rather than an amenity we can enjoy.”

Chris Austin, Alyson’s husband, added: “It makes my blood boil. We’re told the company can’t afford to restore the site, that over the years they’ve failed to put money aside for this, as they were contractually obligated to do. They have made huge amounts of money over the years from the coal mining; where has it all gone?

“What message does this send out? That you can do business, make money, and not honour your obligations to the detriment of local people. That you can continue to work against the direct instructions of the local authority and our elected representatives with seeming impunity? It sets a terrible precedent.

“We can’t allow them to get away with this. It is not just about the impact on our community here, but on other communities in the future.”

Haf Elgar, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, also called for the site to be fully restored and said: “This does not feel like a day to celebrate – workers are being made redundant rather than kept on to restore the site and supported to find other roles, and the whole process has been such a farce that there is no certainty what will happen next.”

Ffos y Fran is the largest opencast in the UK and planning permission to extract coal from the site expired in September 2022. However, the company applied to Merthyr Tydfil Council to extend this permission, and continued to mine coal, without permission, whilst awaiting the outcome.

In April, Merthyr Council rejected an application to continue mining but campaigners said that truckloads and train loads of coal were still seen leaving the site on a regular basis.

In May 2023, Merthyr Council issued an enforcement notice but campaigners claim operations continued and then the company launched an appeal with the Welsh Government against the council’s enforcement order.

The Coal Authority also wrote to the company in July, because it was mining coal beyond its licensed boundary, ordering them to stop all extraction of coal outside of the licence area with immediate effect and inform the authority that it had happened.

Merthyr (South Wales) Limited announced in August it would stop mining on Thursday November 30 and close the site.

Merthyr Council said negotiations have been ongoing for more than a year, and are expected to continue over coming months.

A council spokesperson said: “Current discussions indicate that a planning application for a revised restoration plan will be submitted to Merthyr Tydfil CBC in early 2024. In the meantime, the developer is responsible for the safety of the site.

 “The assertion by the Coal Authority that the council has ‘made very little progress’ in preparing for the closure of the mine is simply incorrect.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Welsh ministers cannot comment on individual cases as the Welsh Government has a formal role in determining planning enforcement appeals.”