Nia Griffith MP has written to the Council’s planning department to express her objections to proposal for opencast mining on the Pentremawr site, between Pontyberem and Ponthenri. Speaking up about the plans, she said
“It is clear to me both from the public meetings we held in Pontyberem and Ponthenri four years ago, and in talking to numerous residents since, that there is widespread opposition to these proposals because the proposed workings are just so close to people’s homes and to the school. In my letter, I also remind councillors that back in the autumn of 2009, more than 900 residents signed a petition expressing their opposition to the plans for opencast mining. I was with members of the residents action committee, led by Community Councillor Alban Rees, when we delivered that petition to the council, and called on councillors to block the planning application submitted by a company called Draeth.
Residents want councillors to know that they are really worried about having opencast at Pentremawr. The thought of the noise, the dust and the lorries is just too horrible to contemplate.”