Company submits plans to extract 85,000 tonnnes of high-quality coal

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

A mining company has submitted new plans to extract coal in Carmarthenshire.

Bryn Bach Coal wants to remove 85,000 tonnes of anthracite from a proposed 10-hectare extension at its Glan Lash opencast site near Llandybie, although it said just under six hectares would be excavated.

A design and access statement submitted to Carmarthenshire Council on its behalf said the “premium quality” anthracite would be marketed for water purification, brake pad manufacture, brick-making and other “high-tech activities” and would not be burned for energy.

It said removing the 85,000 tonnes would be done via six “box cuts” and take nearly five-and-a-half years. Material would be backfilled and the site restored and maintained for 10 years.

Mitigation

The statement said the project, combined with mitigation measures at the adjacent Tirydail tip restoration site, would result in a considerable gain in overall biodiversity compared to what was there now.

In September last year the council’s planning committee unanimously turned down an application by Bryn Bach Coal to extract 110,000 tonnes – subsequently reduced to 95,000 tonnes – of coal from the proposed Glan Lash extension.

The committee heard there were 826 objections to the proposal and a small number of letters of support, including from clients of Bryn Bach Coal. Speakers at the meeting included a Friends of the Earth representative and a planning agent on behalf of Bryn Bach Coal. Cllr Peter Cooper said people living in the area had endured opencast operations for too long. “I don’t think people should have to put up with this again,” he said. “We have moved on.”

The company is hopeful its new application has addressed the six previous reasons for refusal. It plans to avoid any extraction from an area of marsh fritillary butterfly habitat, and said there would be no losses to purple moor-grass and rush pasture.

Trees and hedgerows

Although trees and hedgerows would be lost initially, Bryn Bach Coal said there would end up being two-and-a-half times as much once the restoration scheme was completed. “There will be an overall 47.25% increase in biodiversity value, mainly of woodland and scrub habitat as a result of the scheme,” said the design and access statement.

A consultation on the new plans took place during the summer. Bryn Bach Coal said it acknowledged concerns from people living in the area and said that it had commissioned various reports. “These specialist reports conclude that there will be no adverse impact on the neighbouring properties, with specific regard given to visual impact, flooding, subsidence and dust and noise pollution,” said its response to the consultation. A small number of objections to date have been submitted to the council on pollution and habitat grounds.