Ffos-y-Fran
Ffos-y-Fran (pronounced forss-uh-vran), located next to Merthyr Tydfil, will be one of the biggest coal mines Wales has ever seen. Over the 15 year lifetime of this new opencast mine, more than 10.8 million tonnes of coal will be extracted – and burning all of that will release 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – releasing carbon dioxide each year at about the same rate as the entire country of Mozambique! Ffos-y-Fran is a climate disaster waiting to happen.
Local people have been opposing the mine for years. More than 10,000 people signed a petition opposing the mine – not suprising given that it will mean a 200 metre deep pit as little as 35 metres from local homes. Despite this amazing level of opposition, the Welsh Assembly Government, encouraged by Westminster, gave the go-ahead to the mine. In other parts of the UK where mines must have a 500 metre buffer zone between them and local residents, the mine would not have been allowed. In Wales, such legislation has been delayed and delayed again, probably to allow schemes like Ffos-y-Fran to go ahead. WAG are currently debating bringing in buffer zones around mines – but it wouldn’t be applied to existing schemes. If Ffos-y-Fran goes ahead, it will have crept in through the back door.
WAG state in their sustainability policy that “Climate Change is the greatest threat facing humanity. Everyone in Wales has a contribution to make in tackling it…this government, through its commitment to sustainable development, must be at the forefront of that campaign”. They also say: “The local environment matters and communities are blighted by littering, fly-tipping and pollution. We recognise the importance of the local environment, the effect on communities and will support its improvement to a high standard.” It doesn’t look to us like they’re clearly either of those pledges seriously.
There’s a lot of focus on opposing coal-fired power stations for environmental reasons, and it really makes sense to be opposing opencast coal mining as well. The carbon is safely locked up in the ground… Why not leave it there, particularly when there are good, proven renewable technologies which mean we don’t need it?
