Just a heads up that may be of interest; Miller Argent have appealed the refusal of the above opencast. They put in their 1st notice in the Western Mail on Xmas Eve, their 2nd notice on New Years Eve and those interested have until the 28th January to get their objections in. The application has been split, the first to be dealt with is the fencing off of common land and the blocking of all the relevant public rights of way, see image above. If you visit the UVAG site you can download a letter of objection. As usual Leek & Weston have all the relevant appeal paperwork in PDF format, Leek and Weston can be accessed via the Miller Argent news site.
Bird wise; my first jack snipe of the winter yesterday in the sleet at west point Rhaslas but still no shrike at Garwnant, though Iolo had 1 on the TV last night in the southern clearfell.
Just an update, Ffos y fran has been sold to Gwent Investments Limited, a similar ploy as used by Celtic Energy to avoid restoration/mitigation and assiciated costs?? Also please see http://noopencastnetwork.org.uk/blog/the-future-of-the-ffos-y-fran-opencast-site-sparks-huge-interest/
ReplyDeleteThe above address not working just use http://noopencastnetwork.org.uk/ and navigate to Ffos y fran item.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the 'heads-up' Mike, I notice it was conveniently (read sneakily) done over the Xmas/New Year holiday period!!!
ReplyDeleteRegards Miller Argents sell-off to Gwent Investments Ltd to avoid restoration/mitigation/liability for Ffos-y-Fran, they could now have fatally damaged any iota of credibility they have left regarding their appeal against CCBC refusing them permission for their proposed environmental vandalism on the other side of the road at Nant Llesg.
We must hope that this appeal is totally rejected, if not its almost unimaginable what it will do to the communities of Rhymney, Pontlottyn, Fochriw and surrounding villages for the next 17+ years and beyond. The damage done would be nothing short of a disaster, to put it in perspective an area almost the size of Merthyr Tydfil would be environmentally destroyed.
Incidentally, the original faceless politicians/civil servants that gave Miller Argent the go-ahead (again on appeal - after original refusal)for Ffos-y-Fran should be held to public account now that Miller Argent has reneged on their promises...remember all that publicity hype they spouted about responsible reclamation and conservation blah blah blah, it was'nt worth a p*ss in the wind!!!