The continued coal extraction at Ffos-y-Fran is illegal and the failure of the Welsh Government and local authority to stop it may be "unlawful", lawyers have said. According to BBC Wales an enforcement notice giving Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine in Merthyr Tydfil 28 days to stop extracting coal came into effect on Tuesday.
It comes after the mine was ordered to close after 15 years when Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council's planning committee voted in April to refuse an application to extend the time of operations there until March 2024. The company behind the mine, Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, said the coal was needed for the steel industry but council planning officials said that the company failed to clearly demonstrate that the extraction of coal was needed to support industrial non-energy-generating uses.
They also highlighted the need to decarbonise citing climate change and emission reductions. In May Merthyr Tydfil council released a statement with an enforcement notice issued to Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd and any other persons with an interest in the land at Ffos y-Fran requiring the end of the extraction of coal from the land.
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The notice took effect on Tuesday, June 27, as a statutory period of at least 28 days was required unless an appeal was made to the planning inspector before this date. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd has until the end of July to stop all coal extraction after its application for more time was refused in April.
But BBC News Wales reports that barristers for climate activists have argued that the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil council could have intervened sooner. In an open letter of legal advice barristers working with the campaign group Coal Action Network said the situation brought the planning system "into disrepute".
The letter also notes that the extraction of the coal and the associated emissions were the result of a mining company "choosing to act unilaterally and unlawfully", and said that in these circumstances, it was arguable that "the Council's and Welsh Ministers' eight-and-a-half month delay in taking enforcement action was unlawful".
Matthew McFeeley of the environmental law firm Richard Buxton Solicitors told the BBC: "It certainly sends a signal to other operators who may be considering whether to shut down their coal mine or oil well – do they need to do that? They may get away with a significant period of extraction without planning control."
The site employs around 180 staff and supplies the steelworks for Port Talbot. Opencast mines – where coal is extracted from the surface as opposed to underground pits of yesteryear – were developed across Wales following World War Two. In recent years Ffos-y-Fran had been the UK's largest and – since the pandemic – its last remaining active site.
It originally won planning permission in 2005. In 2007 work began to excavate 11m tonnes of coal across the site. Even back then there was outcry from those opposed to the scheme saying it was too close to people's homes and local businesses.
Residents led a long-running campaign calling for it to be shut down, saying their lives were constantly being made miserable by coal and dust as well as noise. Some of the closest houses were less than 40m away. The mine is the size of about 400 football pitches and figures have shown that between September 7, 2022, and March 31, 2023, workers at the site dug up around 199,307 tonnes of coal.
Speaking to the BBC Chris Austin, aged 67, who lives near the site, said it had been "incredibly frustrating" experience for residents and campaigners. "The local authority could have acted almost immediately but they've dragged their heels on this," he added.
A senior lecturer in statutory planning at Cardiff University, Dr Neil Harris, said the fact that application to extend the mine's life was received just days before planning permission ran out was crucial to the "elongated process" that ensued. He suggested that although Merthyr Tydfil council could be seen as being "a little cautious" this was down to wanting to get the decision right in a "really complicated case" and not leaving itself open to a legal challenge.
Although the BBC has approached Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd for a comment the company previously told the broadcaster it was in an "active discussion" with the council about ensuring "a safe cessation of coaling" and ongoing restoration. In response to the BBC a Merthyr Tydfil council spokesman said: "We have a contrary legal view of the situation. It is not appropriate to comment any further in light of potential litigation."
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "Our position is clear – we want to bring a managed end to the extraction and use of coal. We are in a climate and nature emergency and the response must be swift and serious so we can pass on a Wales we are proud of to future generations."
