Plans to mine six million tonnes of coal at the top of the Rhymney Valley have been submitted – but campaigners have vowed to fight the proposals.
Company Miller Argent has said up to 239 jobs could be created at the planned Nant Llesg Surface Mine, which will be located north of Fochriw and west of Rhymney.
The company, which already operates the Ffos-y-fran surface mine neighbouring the site, has said it has undertaken two years of environmental studies and consultation with local communities and stakeholders. Opponents to the scheme have said residents living in Rhymney could face years of dust, noise and light pollution and the loss of habitat for migrating birds.
Neil Brown, Managing Director of Miller Argent, said: “We are proud of our current operation at Ffos-y-fran and the benefits we have brought to the local area in terms of employment, investment and support of community initiatives. Nant Llesg would provide further significant investment in the area, along with job creation and training opportunities, and we would look to work with local communities to ensure these are, as far as possible, filled by local people.
“We have held extensive discussions with council officers, councillors, the local community and local businesses and the feedback we received has resulted in significant changes to our proposals – which we hope people will agree have addressed many of the key issues raised.”
But the United Valleys Action Group, who are opposed to the plans, have said they have heard it all before with the previous Ffos-y-fran scheme.
Chris Austin, secretary of the group, lives next to Ffos-y-fran and said Rhymney residents would be hit worse because of prevailing winds blowing dust from the surface mine if it got the go-ahead.
The 58-year-old said: “The cons far outweigh the benefits. If this goes ahead, we are going to lose inward investment.
“We will have the same dust, noise and light pollution that we’ve had with Ffos-y-fran. We don’t want the residents of Rhymney to suffer.”
The group also argues the area could be spoilt forever with the mine’s environmental impact. Migrating birds from Europe, they argue, would have nowhere to settle and marshland would be lost.
They also have concerns for residents living next to the Rhymney railway line because of the expected increase in the number of coal trains from four every 24 hours to six.
Miller Argent have said that £12.9 million will be invested annually in the local area amounting to £180.6 million over the lifetime of the project. Trade union Unite have welcomed the plans to bring jobs, but at least one local business has concerns.
Cosmetics firm Richards & Appleby said it would move manufacturing if the mine came its into use. The company neighbours the site and employs 140 people. It supplies products to Harrods and John Lewis.
Managing Director Mitchell Field said that if the mine went ahead, then 90 manufacturing jobs would have to be relocated out of the area.
He said: “We came here because conditions were right for us. If the mine comes, then that is no longer the case.”
The majority of the coal produced at Ffos-y-Fran and Nant Llesg would be used to power Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot and Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Subject to planning permission being granted, work on the scheme would likely to begin in 2014, with the site remediated by 2027.
An exhibition of the plans is set to be held later this year.
I wonder where the euphemism ‘surface mine’ has come from? This is a good old, or bad old depending on your views, open cast site.
I have long predicted the return of coal as a major energy source. Building French designed, Chinese run, nuclear power stations is idiocy in my opinion. I am sure the Welsh coal industry has a rosy future but prospective open-cast operators will always face opposition. Far better to use an ‘adit’ or drift mine to extract the coal as this has a far lower environmental impact.
Why not go all of the way and start digging it out by the tonne? It's time Wales starts reinvesting in it's coal mining instead of green energy. Protectionist policies can be enforced to ensure Welsh coal doesn't lose out to foreign imports.
Speaking of energy sources, why can't Britain build and run its own nuclear power stations?
We used to be able to Dean, the problem is that sucessive governments have destroyed our engineering base.
Personally, on energy, I think the Germans and Japanese are right, scrap nuclear and invest in coal. We also should be building the Severn barrage and exploring renewables in general for when fossil fuels are no longer available. The trouble with our governments is that they have no knowledge or vision; they are far more interested in winning the next election to give any thought of how we provide heat and light in 20 years time. The final nail in the coffin was when the Central Electricity Generating board, which had provided plentiful and relatively inexpensive electricity, was privatised. Big, big, mistake.
Are these the same people who moan that Mrs Thatcher closed all the pits and destroyed the valleys. The same people who moan there are no jobs.
Tax payer:
Yes, Yes, on both counts, and thousands of people and their families, and entire communities agree with them.