There is “epic mismanagement” at Britain’s largest former open-cast coal mine, a new report has found. For example, the company that owns it has failed to deliver on its commitment to restore the site after the mine closed and can no longer afford the restoration work, which is estimated to cost between £50 million and £120 million.

The number of opencast mines has declined in recent years, and Ffos-y-Fran in Merthyr Tydfil was the last opencast mine in Wales until it closes in 2023. In 2015, a restoration plan was published promising to convert the area into grassland and moorland for animals to graze on and for public access.

Although it would cost an estimated £50 million to restore the site, the original planning permission only required a £15 million deposit and a £15 million guarantee from the parent company. This money remains in a trust account and cannot be accessed directly by the council.

Earlier this year, the Senedd’s Environment Committee was told the company had paid out almost £50 million in dividends and royalties from the business since 2017. “Despite initial promises to restore the site, the company now claims it cannot afford to do so,” said a report published by the committee on Thursday. Water has now accumulated in the resulting void at the site, causing concern among local residents. You can read about it here.

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Campaigner Chris Austin, who appeared before the committee, questioned claims that the company could not afford the restoration despite making significant profits over many years. He explained: “They can certainly afford it. When they committed to the buyout, their contract said it was a land reclamation program. You give the land back, whatever is left is yours, not the other way around.”

The program began in 2007 and aimed to extract 10 million tonnes of coal within 15 years, with part of the proceeds to be used to redevelop the site into residential and leisure facilities. The licence to mine coal at Ffos-y-Fran expired in September 2022, but local residents reported that the mine continued to operate – illegally – for many months after that, before the site closed in November 2023.

In its new report, the committee finds that despite calls for a cease and desist order, neither the council nor the Welsh Government “have taken decisive action to stop these activities”. “This failure underlines the need for stronger enforcement mechanisms,” it concludes.

A month before Ffos-y-Fran was due to close, the Coal Authority contacted the Welsh Government to say that, despite its own and others’ advice, Merthyr Council had made “little visible progress in preparing for closure or decommissioning of the mine”. It was heard that there was no plan to deal with rising water levels or whether the council could use a bond held in trust if the operator went into liquidation.

The company refused to attend the committee hearing but provided a statement saying it was managing the site in accordance with health and safety guidelines. The company said it had a dedicated team monitoring water levels and quality and that it had an agreement with Merthyr Borough Council to start an interim remediation programme due to begin in May 2024.

Concerns have been raised that the operator may abandon the site or declare bankruptcy to evade responsibility and that water may now accumulate in the former mine. Mr Austin and his wife Alyson said: “The whole process has been awful and communication from both the council and the mining company has been appalling throughout. They only tell us anything when they are absolutely forced to; the local community seems to be at the bottom of their priority list.

“We are very concerned about the future of Ffos-y-Fran. What we are left with is a loose valley with steep walls and a lake in the depths; easily accessible to everyone and a magnet for children. We feel that our local authority, the Welsh Government and government agencies at all levels have let us down. The mining company should keep their promise of a full restoration and the council should not let them get away with leaving us with dangerous and abandoned land.

“Restoring the abandoned and dangerous land was the only benefit for us after suffering 17 years of open-pit coal mining on our doorstep. It is simply not fair that the community is now in a worse position than before,” they said.

Merthyr Tydfil Parish Council said it had discussed a revised strategy for the rest of the site, but the committee says it now appears “inevitable” that some of the cappings (rocks lying above each seam) and water will remain in the void. The committee concluded: “This is an unacceptable outcome caused by the deliberate inaction of the site operator. The local authority, in conjunction with the site operator, must ensure that such a body of water is safe and develop a plan to ensure that it can ultimately benefit the community.”

The committee said: “The testimony of local residents about the impact of these sites on their lives was the most heartbreaking aspect of our investigation. People’s lives, health, wellbeing and homes have been severely affected for many years, if not decades. As a committee, we can only commend the dignity, care and dedication they have shown for so long.”

Referring to the Ffos-y-Fran mine, the committee said it was a “symbol of systemic failure” and that the site’s failed restoration was a reminder of “the need for robust policy action, effective enforcement and genuine community involvement in site restoration”.

They said: “It is important to note that there were significant and clear warnings about the potential problems at Ffos-y-Fran. It was one of five sites identified in the 2014 report as being at risk due to inadequate bond cover. While we recognise the challenges the local authority has faced in retrospectively applying the recommendations of the 2014 report and the 2016 best practice guidance, a decade has passed since the first warnings were given. We must ask ourselves whether the local authority and Welsh Government have taken all the necessary steps to achieve a better outcome for the local community.”

Thursday’s report focuses on the Ffos-y-Fran mine, but also on other opencast mines in Wales and the promises made to communities about remediation that have not been kept. An opencast mine at Kenfig Hill, Margam, closed over 15 years ago but remediation work “fell far short of promises”, the committee said. £5.7 million was spent on the so-called alternative remediation of the site – instead of the promised £40 million that would have been needed to properly remediate the site.

The report contains 26 recommendations. Llyr Gruffydd MS, chair of the committee, said: “This report describes some of the most egregious examples of the broken promises made to communities across Wales. From start to finish, these mines have been blatantly mismanaged by all sides.”

“Mining companies have made huge profits, but when it comes time to fulfill their restoration promises, the wallet is empty. They do what they want and local communities foot the bill. That is why it is so important that community ownership is taken into account in any new development, which could lead to more responsible management of mining sites.

“Residents told us they felt completely abandoned by the authorities who were supposed to protect them. Too often it seemed as if they were on the side of the mining companies. Transparency was a real problem, as residents rarely got answers from their authorities when they asked legitimate questions about mining near their homes.

“Time is running out to secure what was promised to the local community in Ffos-y-Fran. We call on the Welsh Government, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and other local authorities to learn from this report to ensure that such mistakes are never repeated in opencast mining or coal waste land reclamation.”

Daniel Therkelsen of the Coal Action Network said: “The report’s findings confirm the injustice we have been fighting against for the past two years. It is now imperative that the local authority and Welsh Government fully implement the committee’s recommendations to deliver justice to affected communities and restore nature to the numerous inadequately remediated coal mine sites that dot South Wales.”