Nant Llesg victory

Local residents and campaigners were jubilant on 20 September when the Planning Inspectorate upheld Caerphilly county borough council’s 2015 ruling and rejected developer Miller Argent’s appeal for an opencast coal mine at Nant Llesg.

The United Valleys Action Group (UVAG), local activists and residents worked with Friends of the Earth (FOE) to oppose the opencast mine. Haf Elgar, director of FOE Cymru, said it was a ‘historic victory’ for people power.

UVAG’s Alyson Austin, who has campaigned against the nearby Ffos y Fran opencast coalmine since 2005, congratulated everyone involved in the campaign: ‘From personal experience I know what it’s like living next to an opencast coal mine. The dust from the mine coats every flat surface and the air quality can be really bad. Words can’t express how pleased and relieved we are that communities in Rhymney, Pontlottyn and Fochriw have been spared this horrendous experience – they deserve this outcome.’