UK’s Largest Opencast Coalmine To Shut Down

The UK’s largest opencast coalmine must close after an extension to keep it running was rejected.

It means production at Ffos-y-Fran, near Merthyr Tydfil, must now stop after 16 years of excavation.

The operators asked for an extension until 2024, arguing coal from the mine was needed by the steel industry.

But planning officials advised that the proposed extension did not fit with Welsh government policies on tackling climate change.

The Ffos-y-Fran land reclamation scheme won planning permission in 2005 and work began two years later to excavate 11 million tonnes of coal across a site the size of 400 football pitches.

The other aim was to restore the land – riddled with the remains of old industries – back to green hillside for the community’s benefit as work progressed.

But there was stiff opposition due to the mine’s proximity to homes and businesses.

The closest houses were initially less than 40m (132ft) away, and residents led a long campaign, saying their lives were being blighted by coal dust and noise.

Their protests even attracted the support of the United Nations’ top legal expert on the human rights of communities affected by pollution in 2017.

The mine itself always rejected the claims, arguing that it was heavily regulated and provides well-paid jobs in an area that badly needed them.

After 15 years, planning permission ran out in September 2022 – but the company in charge applied for an extension.

Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd wanted to be allowed to keep coal mining until the end of March 2024 and push back the date for final restoration of the site to June 2026.

Welsh government coal policy prevents the development of new mines or extensions to existing ones apart from in “wholly exceptional circumstances”.