The proposed Nant Llesg opencast coal mine would bring “a significant amount of prosperity” to the Rhymney Valley, according to the managing director of the company which wants to extract six million tonnes of coal over the next 15 years.
Speaking exclusively to Caerphilly Observer, Neil Brown, Managing Director of Miller Argent, said a report claiming the mine would result in job losses was full of “a large number of errors and omissions”.
The report by the Welsh Economy Research Unit at Cardiff University, commissioned by those objecting to the mine, said current companies located in the area could lose investment and relocate, costing the local economy £28 million.
Mr Brown said: “Our experts have identified a large number of errors and omissions and it just shows that the report cannot be relied on and has been superseded by totally independent reports.
“A Sheffield Hallam report showed the old coalfield areas are still suffering large deprivation well above the national average.
“What they’re really saying is industry hasn’t come in to replace the coal industry, so what we’d say to everybody is we have to make the best use of what is an absolutely fantastic local resource.
“Welsh coal is unique. It can go both into steel making as well as power generation. You really have to make the most of a local resource to bring prosperity to the local area.”
Plans for the mine, situated between Fochriw and Rhymney are in a second stage of consultation after 5,700 objections were raised by residents and campaign groups.
Mr Brown said should the mine go ahead, it would provide jobs for local people.
He said: “We’re talking about up to 240 jobs. These jobs are well above average pay scales and will produce a significant amount of prosperity in the area.
“We’re very proud of the fact that 80% to 85% of our current employees live within ten miles of the site, but it’s in our own interests to have local employees. If we employ outside of that area we don’t retain the employees.”
“We are concentrating our minds on how we’re going to set up training programmes, and these skills we’re going to give people can be used in other industry as well.
“We’re getting applications now and we’re having to disappoint people because we’re saying we haven’t got planning permission.”
Miller Argent run the Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine near Merthyr Tydfil and company representatives have said claims the mine causes air and noise pollution are baseless.
Mr Brown said: “The concerns raised on Nant Llesg are practically identical to those raised on Ffos-y-Fran and they just actually haven’t happened.
“We are actually rated as low risk by both Caerphilly and Merthyr councils in terms of our environmental impact.
“We have a few committed complainants who have their own agendas. It’s not true to say that we have a lot of complaints.
“We can quite understand that this is a new area and people would be concerned and we have listened to those concerns and we’ve taken them on board.
“We’re going to be really heavily monitored, as we are on Ffos-y-Fran, and all complaints are investigated.”
Although the development is at an early stage, 50% to 60% of the coal extracted could be used in the steel industry, in power stations such as Aberthaw and TATA Steel in Port Talbot.
Concerns have been raised about the survival of such plants, and Aberthaw has faced large criticism from the European Union regarding its emissions.
But Mr Brown dismissed the claims Aberthaw could close, as well as wider environmental concerns, suggesting using local resources would reduce emissions.
He said: “Aberthaw has just announced significant investment into making their station survive well into the 2020s, so it is one of the most important power stations within the UK. We just do not think that it is a realistic proposition that Aberthaw will be shutting in the foreseeable future.
“In the unlikely event they do decide to close it down, we have a very large and wide customer base that the site can supply.
“We need to remember you can’t make steel without coal, it’s part and parcel of the chemical process.
“Looking at an appropriate and balanced energy policy, there’s a worldwide recognition that coal is going to be here for the foreseeable future and in actual fact, what we do in the UK actually helps emissions, because we reduce the emissions of people having to export coal.
“We might as well make the most of the local resources rather than import it from South Africa, Australia and Russia.
“We can actually make use of the local resource and benefit from the prosperity it’s going to bring.”
He also claimed there would be a positive legacy from the mine, both environmentally and socially through a Community Benefit Fund that is commonplace with large-scale, controversial planning applications.
Mr Brown said: “We’re talking to Natural Resources Wales to make sure that what we’re going to restore the mine to will make it a better environment to how it is now. We are looking to open public access and recreation and looking at putting footpaths across it.
“The whole purpose of surface mining these days is to leave the area in a better state than it was when you started and that’s what we’re designing and that’s what this restoration strategy is all about. There will be a long-term environmental gain on the site.
“There’s going to be a considerable Community Benefit Fund, similar to what we’ve done with Ffos-y-Fran, where you’ve got big projects like the Redhouse in the old town hall and the new 3G pitch at Merthyr Tydfil Football Club.
“We’re part of the regeneration of the area and all these things would not have been possible without the Ffos-y-Fran benefit fund and what we’re looking to do is have a similar positive impact around Nant Llesg.”
But residents close to Ffos-y-Fran are trying to get their case heard in court to address what they claim is noise and dust pollution from the mine.
Chris Austin, Secretary of United Valleys Action Group, said: “The residents of Merthyr Tydfil are still experiencing significant dust pollution when the wind blows from the mine and they fiercely maintain that this is from the mining operation at Ffos-y-Fran.
“Residents are still seeking to get their case heard in the courts to have their issues attended to.
“When the wind blows across the mine the noise is intolerable and incessant, penetrating the fabric of their homes.
“Those impacted by the noise, change with the wind direction and operational parameters. Rhymney will suffer on the prevailing westerly winds.”
Mr Austin also hit back at claims the mine would bring jobs and prosperity to the area.
He said: “We maintain that further inward investment in Rhymney will be deterred, for the same reasons that the Richards and Appleby factory will close down if the mine were to go ahead.
“The absence of inward investment, as with the absence of anything, is extremely difficult to prove. Neil Brown stating that Ffos-y-Fran hasn’t affected inward investment is just rhetoric.
“Jobs will be lost in Rhymney; this statement has come from one of the larger employers there and is irrefutable. Studies show that this will be more extensive than just that one company.
“In their second addendum to the Nant Llesg planning application, Miller Argent makes much of identifying significant European markets for the coal from Nant Llesg.
“If Aberthaw and TATA Steel are relying on Nant Llesg coal, why are they planning to ship large volumes of the coal across to European customers?
“The future of Aberthaw is in question, and the global and European market for steel is currently extremely volatile. There is no clear sustainable customer across the next 15 years for the Nant Llesg coal.”
The planning application is due to be considered by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Planning Committee later this year. Opponents have called for the Welsh Government to decide.