Nia Griffith MP has welcomed the decision by Carmarthenshire County Council planning committee to reject proposals for opencast mining on the Pentremawr site, between Pontyberem and Ponthenri.
Speaking up about the decision , Nia said,
“I would like to thank all those who expressed their objections, by signing the petition or writing letters, and, in particular Cllr Alban Rees and the action committee for making a really strong case to council officers against the opencast, backed up by thorough research. I know that residents will be really relieved to have this news. Too often developers try to get planning for controversial projects through on the quiet. That’s why over four years ago, I called public meetings so that people in Pontyberem and Ponthenri could question the developers face to face and find out what was going on in their backyard. And that’s why I led local volunteers in going out door-to-door with a petition to alert residents to the plans.
In my recent letter, I reminded councillors that back in the autumn of 2009, more than 900 residents signed a petition expressing their opposition to the plans for opencast mining. Members of the residents action committee and I delivered that petition to the council, and called on councillors to block the planning application. Residents wanted councillors to know that they were really worried about having opencast at Pentremawr. And the developers could not even guarantee any jobs for local people – just filth, noise, dust and heavy lorries – all to extract less coal than Aberthaw power station uses in two months.”