Legal move against plan to opencast Ffos-y-Fran

Feb 8 2008 by Jackie Bow, South Wales Echo

A HIGH Court claim has been lodged against a Valleys council over an opencast mine.

Solicitors acting for a resident have issued a claim against Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.

Residents in the neighbouring community want assurances there will be no excavation at the massive Ffos-Y-Fran site closer than 70 metres from their homes.

In his statement, solicitor Paul Stookes, representing Elizabeth Condron, who led a legal challenge against the scheme, said: “A claim has been issued against Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council because it is unwilling to enforce a planning condition that there should be no excavation beyond a certain distance which is, at its closest, 70 metres from people’s homes.

“Such a failure to enforce the condition will allow the operators to excavate right up to the site boundary, which is as close as 35 metres from local residents.

“We consider this to be unlawful and in the absence of agreement by the council to enforce are having to ask the High Court to intervene.

“It may be worth emphasising that it is not the intention to close the operations.

“Rather, local residents would simply like to be assured that there will be no excavation closer than 70 metres from their homes. There has already been considerable dust nuisance arising from preliminary workings which the council are aware of. The situation is likely to deteriorate if excavation carries on much closer.

“The Assembly Government considers the issue of the breach of planning to be a matter for Merthyr council, yet it has now recognised that there is some merit in having distances of 500 metres between opencast coal operations and people’s homes.”

This week, environment minister Jane Davidson said the Assembly intended to create a 500-metre buffer zone around future opencast sites.

Terry Evans, chairman of Raff – Residents Against Ffos-Y-Fran – has no doubt the Merthyr campaign and petitions influenced the assembly on its 500-metre buffer zone proposal.

“It shows we were right. We helped to get this but it’s absolutely no help to us now, although it’s wonderful for Wales and the future.

“We in Merthyr should have had that buffer zone but I think the scheme would probably have been unviable.”

Merthyr council confirmed it is aware a High Court claim has been lodged.

jackie.bow@mediawales.co.uk