Swansea Valley residents hand in objection letters concerning a possible coal mine
SWANSEA Valley residents have promised to fight tooth and nail to stop a coal mine opening on a mountain.
Action group TEGWCH — Action for Ystalyfera/Godre'r Graig have handed in 178 individual letters against a possible coal mine.
They say that following a landslide in December, the mine should not go ahead.
A planning application has been submitted by Ammanford- based Western Carbons Ltd to Neath Port Talbot Council for "exploratory driveage and associated engineering works to investigate coal seam" in Pen y Darren, Cwm Du Valley, Godre'rgraig.
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Members of TEGWCH have been to Port Talbot Civic Centre with placards to hand in their objection letters to the council.
"We are very determined," committee member Emyr Wyn Williams said. "We have to stop this. People are worried sick because it is a time bomb. If it goes ahead God knows what will happen."
Thirteen homes in Panteg, Ystalyfera, were evacuated on December 22, after tonnes of mud and debris slid down the rock surface, blocking the road.
Mr Williams said residents have major concerns.
"The mine is to be opened on Mynydd Allt y Grug, the same mountain on which a major landslide happened just before Christmas at Panteg," he said.
"The Halcrow Report in 1990 stated that there should never be any further mining or excavation on this mountain.
"By allowing this proposal to be accepted by Neath Port Talbot Council, this could potentially cause further major landslides.
"The mine workings will take place behind Godre'rgraig Primary School which has more than 100 children."
A spokesman for the company said: "We applied over a year ago but the application was turned down. This is a slimmed-down version which would allow us to carry out exploratory work in order to find out if the project is worthwhile."
A council spokesman said the application is still under consideration
"We are aware of the public concerns that have been raised," he said. "These, and all other material planning issues, will be examined and taken into account when the application is decided."
Comments
by Neathboy234
Tuesday, February 12 2013, 4:09PM
“It's great to see the locals fighting this plan, this should never be allowed to go ahead.”