P-04-575 Call in All Opencast Mining Planning Applications – Correspondence from the Petitioner to the Committee, 20.06.17

Response to Ministers second letter for Petitions Committee

In response to the Ministers submission dated 26^th may 2017, where the Minister again quotes that Planning Policy Wales (PPW) is being revised next year, UVAG stands by the petition of 6500+ signatures to ‘call in’ all opencast mines over 10 years or 350 hectares in size.

The issue of opencast mining is so concerning in its present state with several large opencast mining operations either shelved or so called mothballed that could lead them all being abandoned leaving a massive legacy for restoration that falls on the Local Authorities or the Welsh Government, for this reason alone it should not be the Local Authorities but the Welsh Government that should be the decision makers on large opencast mining planning applications.

There are more large opencast mining operations working in Wales at the moment that could be shelved or mothballed the Welsh Government needs to ensure these schemes are completed with the company’s commitment to the restoration of the sites before any other opencast application is even considered.

UVAG would like the petition to progress to the Plenary for ALL Assembly Members to debate with the view of having the petition implemented. 

Terry Evans UVAG