Jane from Mountain Ash blogs here with a story on the proposed opencast plans for Mountain Ash…
We had a knock at the door last night from a nice man called Ian. It was -3*C and he was going door to door with a petition. Ian was collecting residents signatures for his petition to raise awareness of one anonymous landowners intent to dig for coal on a small plot of land behind the graveyard in Caegarw, Mountain Ash.
We had been wondering about the sounds of heavy machinery and the Apex Drilling vans seen on our street over the past few weeks.
It appears that the plot of land was sold by Lord Aberdare in the ’60’s to this man and he has twice been denied permission to excavate the coal from a 100 year old tip.
We understand that the land has a preservation order on it due to its environmental value following the tree planting which has occured on it. It is close to a hospital and two
schools, not to mention hundreds of houses.
We wonder why this is being attempted again, when the council and Welsh Assembly Government have spent over £20 million on cleaning up the Cynon Valley, when there are plans for a new community hospital less than half a mile from the site and when there are concerned residents, the authorities have done nothing.
Has planning permission again been sought? If so, wouldn’t the residents who live within 500 metres of the plot have been told? Where is our voice in all this? We understand that the land is an old tip. We don’t want a return to dust and smoke – we value our environment and hope that the council and WAG do to. Anyone know anything about this???
The residents of Caegarw are a vociferous bunch and we welcome any information that can help us get to the bottom of the drilling, digging and the looming threat of coal dust again…
At Prime Minister’s Question Time last week, Ann Clwyd the MP for Aberdare and Cynon Valley, invited Gordon Brown to congratulate the miners of Tower Colliery on their successful management of a coalmine … “despite the efforts of the Conservatives to shut them down” (Source: Hansard via TheyWorkForYou).
Prime Minister Brown replied in kind … “I want to thank them for their efforts, proving that working people can get together and make a success of a project that other parties said would never work”.
The lack of leadership and statesmanship in the Labour Party in its present configuration remind one of Nye Bevan’s words given in speech to the Labour Party conference on October 4, 1957. Bevan warned of the perils of sending a “British Foreign Secretary naked into the conference chamber”.
And his subsequent question “Do you call that statesmanship? I call it an emotional spasm.”
The ‘emotional spasm’ in the UK Parliament last week came from a Prime Minister who has not been elected to lead his own Party. Moreover, Gordon Brown was unwilling to call a General Election after succeeding Tony Blair in 2007, as he did not want to become known as the shortest-serving Prime Minister since George Canning, who lasted a measly 119 days in 1827.
A fortnight prior to this spasmodic exchange in the House of Commons, the Labour Government renewed their committment to Nuclear Energy. This island is made of coal and thus, to borrow from Bevan again, it takes an organising genius to ensure a future energy crisis. Prime Minister’s Question Time last week should have been used to punctuate the history of Cynon Valley with something serious and statesmanlike, but instead, we got the Labour Party emotional spasm that Bevan warned about fifty years ago.
Amidst the frenetic flurry of stories on Tower Colliery this week, one story caught our eye as an insightful breathe of fresh air …
John Redwood commented in his blog this week on the closure of Tower Colliery. He was Conservative Secretary of State for Wales at the time of the pit closure and subsequent buy-out. Without his enthusiasm for the project, it is doubtful whether the miners would ever have become owners of their own pits.
When the miners arrived in my office, I think they were surprised by my enthusiasm for their cause, and by my explanation that their task was not to persuade me, but to work with me on our joint case to the Energy department and Coal Board to give them the opportunity to run the mine. As it meant being allowed to prove the Coal Board wrong it was not going to be easy, but I felt that between us we could do it.
So was forged a partnership in British politics that none had predicted. I joined forces with Tyrone O ‘Sullivan, the charismatic Lodge Secretary and leader of the buy out team to persuade Coal Board and government the should give the miners a chance. I was the only person who saw nothing strange in the alliance. I had always believed in workers participation and employee ownership. Here was a chance to show its magic in an industry that had been gravely damaged by the them and us mentality of the large corporation.
Perhaps the greatest modern legacy Thatcher left the Valleys was the Tower Colliery Story where two hundred or so workers bought their own pit and worked it by and for themselves until they dug every last tonne of coal they could dig out of the ground. The Tower Colliery Story is a success story and a story of radicalism. Every community needs a good story to tell the next generation.
Here’s a video clip of a paraglider ‘jumping off’ Rhigos Mountain yesterday.
It’s near Craig y Llyn, the highest summit in Glamorgan.
There are splendid views of Rhigos and Hirwaun from this lofty ledge.
Tower Colliery is nearby, although it it expected to close this month.
Jill Evans, Plaid Cymru’s Candidate for Rhondda in the National Assembly Elections, chose this location to give a press conference yesterday.
The following statement was issued on behalf of Jill Evans’ office :
“Plaid Cymru firmly believes that urgent and effective action is neededto tackle climate change. But the top priority must be given to energyconservation and efficiency. Then, renewable energy must come from severalsources – hydro, solar, bio-mass and wind. Labour’s policy, with its80% reliance on on-shore wind-farms, is wrong. The result – 150 windturbines in north Glamorgan by 2010 – is unacceptable.
“We’re calling for a planning moratorium while a new strategy isdeveloped. And then, local communities should decide their own energyplans, not be dictated to as they are now”.
Our emphasis on what is a radical proposal – “local communities should decide their own energyplans" : people should be free enough to make decisions for themselves and their community.
“Do you want the Windfarm?” is one of the questions facing villagers in Hirwaun and surrounding communities at the moment as local company Pennant Walters push forward plants to erect a windfarm in the village.
A Public Meeting is to be held in Hirwaun so that local people can discuss their worries about a proposed new wind-farm and other major developments.
The meeting is being organised by Action for Hirwaun which has been set up to fight for the rights of villagers to have a say in Hirwaun’s future.
A spokesperson said : “This is the biggest development of its kind in Cynon Valley… it’s massive. It will affect the lives of many thousands of people. The decisions we take now will affect the landscape for decades to come. We need a meeting to discuss this and other development issues.”
Action for Hirwaun will be holding a Public Meeting on Wednesday, October 4th 2006 at 7pm at Nebo Chapel Hirwaun.
If you are concerned about the proposed new windfarm being developed near Hirwaun or worried about other issues like traffic congestion in the community, please come along to the public meeting. All are welcome.
