VALLEY residents are getting ready to dig in to see off the return of an old foe.

In the early 1990s, battle lines were drawn when plans for a controversial opencast mine were unveiled.

Such was the furore about the mooted Selar opencast site, that the protests were not just limited to people living nearby.

So-called eco-warriors from far and wide descended on the Neath Valley — with their actions delaying the inevitable for years.

Eventually the mine opened, despite all the opposition. Time passed and it seemed as if the operation was heading for a close, with the original planning consent only valid until 2006.

Then residents suffered the setback of an extension, which saw Celtic Energy allowed to carry on at the site until the end of 2010.

They regarded that as a kick in the teeth, but at least could console themselves with the knowledge that there were only a few more years to go before Selar finally bit the dust.

Or so they thought. Now, out of the blue, Celtic Energy has confirmed it is going to carry out exploratory work to the north of Selar, which local protesters fear could mean yet more misery being heaped on the long-suffering community.

Glynneath town councillor Edward Jones summed up the area's feelings when he said: "I am all in favour of jobs in the area but this village has been exploited to death.

"This village is being hammered environmentally, and has been since 1946."

These days, it is an increasingly difficult balancing act between creating jobs and safeguarding the environment.

It was the ecological sensitivity of the Selar site that brought in the eco-warriors, who set up home in trees on the site and were only evicted after a long battle — delaying the start of work by around three years.

But according to Glynneath town mayor Marion Morgan, the old question of jobs versus environment is no longer a valid one as far as the prospect of more opencast mining is concerned.

"The fact is that opencast mining does not bring that many jobs to the community," she said.

"It does bring a certain number, but a lot of the workers are brought in because the old skills have been lost —that's why, when you look at Selar, there are so many caravans there."

Deep mining is enjoying a comeback in the area, with the Aberpergwm pit operating in the Glynneath area without the kind of vociferous opposition that opencast has attracted.

"I think people have accepted deep mining because it is part of our tradition and tends to be far less intrusive," said Councillor Morgan.

"What really gets to people is the environmental impact of opencast and the effect is has on wildlife. We were up at Selar a while back and it was like a moonscape — a real blight on the landscape.

"Plus you can hear it from a long distance away and see the lights at night. When you add the traffic it generates and the health concerns — there is a lot of asthma in this area — you can understand why people are against it.

"What makes it even worse is that we were starting to look forward to the time when Selar would finally come to an end, only to have the threat of another opencast mine sprung on us."

Although Celtic's proposals are only in the very early stages, there is already talk of public meetings having to be called in Glynneath because of the outcry a new opencast mine would inevitably provoke.

Celtic's business development manager Adrian Helmore told the Post: "We recognise the concerns of the local community and would like to assure people we are currently only at the very early stages of considering the future of the site.

"At present, there are a whole range of issues to consider, including whether there is sufficient coal in the locality to warrant an extension.

"Once the results of our preliminary exploratory works are known, we will be in a position to communicate with the local community and to fully consider the environmental and social impact of any future activities."

However, Celtic has already come under fire for its lack of communication over the exploratory work above Selar.

Allegedly, the liaison committee set up between the company, councillors and other community representatives, was not informed of this latest — potentially explosive — development.

Councillor and retired health worker Carolyn Edwards, who sits on the committee, said: "We had a meeting last month and there was nothing. We didn't have an inkling of this. I think it's disgraceful. Words fail me."

Whatever communication problems there may have been in the past, there is no mistaking the message going out now from the people of the Neath Valley — no more opencast.

Whether that message gets through the second time around remains to be seen.