Almost 200 local residents and campaigners against the proposals for an open cast mine at Nant Llesg at the top of the picturesque Rhymney Valley yesterday (22 April 2014) staged a protest at Caerphilly County Borough Council’s offices in a bid to prevent consent being granted.
During the protest, a ‘funeral procession’ took place, symbolising the ‘death of the valley’ as residents know it, followed by a ‘funeral’ service where local people voiced their fears for the community if proposals go ahead.
The plans for the mine have been put forward by Scottish developer, Miller Argent, which also operates the Ffos-y-Fran open cast mine in Merthyr, and would see 3,000 acres of land set aside for the surface mining of six to nine million tonnes of coal over a period of 17 years. The mining process itself would create a series of high ‘over burden dumps’, which will contribute to a constant stream of coal dust particles that will be blown by prevailing winds across the town.
While the mine developer is promising job creation, if the proposals are given the go-ahead then existing jobs are under threat, with many local businesses stating that the impact of the mine would be too great for them to remain in the area. A report conducted by the Welsh Economy Research Unit at Cardiff University last year found that the operation could create a £28.7m a year hole in the local economy, leading to significant job losses and undermining efforts to attract inward investment.
Campaign spokesperson, Mitchell Field, who employs 140 people at Rhymney-based cosmetics company, Richards & Appleby Ltd, commented: “The evidence we have found from looking at similar mines across the UK indicate that the impact of a mine like this would not just be on people’s quality of life and health, but also have a significant effect on the environment and the long term economic future of the area.
“As the UK government has recently announced funding to help close two of the UK’s remaining deep coal pits, it seems ludicrous that we are having to fight proposals for a ‘safer’ open cast coal mine when it is clearly an energy form that has had its day. We hope that Caerphilly Council listens to the concerns of local residents and local businesses and sees sense when it reviews the proposals as this is going to have nothing but a negative impact on the area.”
The decision of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s planning committee on the application to create an open cast mine at Nant Llesg is imminent.
For more information on the campaign, visit http://greenvalleysalliance.co.uk/
