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Peredur Owen Griffiths, who represents Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

In recent weeks I have been raising a few questions in the Senedd about the coal extraction scheme planned for the former Bedwas Colliery site.

This has been billed as a coal tip remediation project but the reality is that it would not be happening were it not for the vast amounts of profit that can be made by ERI Reclamation.

We heard in a recent meeting with the leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council that an estimated 468,000 tonnes of coal can be recovered from Bedwas tips.

I have no problem with any company making profit from such a scheme but I do have a problem with there being no community incentive for local people to back it in the form of tangible, financial benefits.

This is galling when it is the local communities that will be putting up with increased noise, increased pollution and restricted access to the beloved mountains and forestry. I have heard little to nothing so far of community benefits aside from purported landscape improvements once all the coal has been extracted.

My questions to the Labour Government have concentrated on learning from the mistakes of the past when our communities were exploited for their natural resources with no return. I also raised the need to ensure that if the project goes ahead then there is careful and forensic monitoring of financial accounts to ensure that the company in question leaves enough money aside to fulfil promises made on environmental improvements. 

Aside from anything, it is disappointing the category D tip closest to homes on Llanfabon Drive in Trethomas will not be touched. Not only is this tip casting a shadow on many homes in the village but it was also known to emit smoke from an underground fire at various points in the years that followed the colliery’s closure. I understand that this tip is privately owned but I would like to see remedial work on this made a priority.

There is also a wider question of who should be footing the bill for coal tip remediation throughout Wales. Given that the British state reaped the profits of the coal industry for decades whilst our communities paid the heaviest of prices, it should follow that the UK Government is held financially responsible for making our former coal villages and towns safe.

How the Senedd – which was not conceived until long after the demise of the coal industry in Wales – can be held financially responsible is beyond me. It is yet another example in the very long list of occasions that Wales was ridden over roughshod by various governments led by both the Tories and Labour at Westminster.   

Finally, I would like to say it is good to see Ffos Caerffili up and running. After numerous delays to its grand opening (it was originally slated to open well in time for Christmas 2023), it was good to see this multi-million pound investment open to the public.

There may still be questions about the cost of the project and the suitability of a container market in the shadow of one of the finest medieval castles in Europe but I wish the attraction and all the traders involved in it, all the very best. There have been many mistakes made over town centre regeneration in recent years and I sincerely hope this is not yet another one.