Anger at Minister's hypocrisy on opencast plans

1.55.51pm GMT Wed 22nd Nov 2006

Opencast mining should only take place at a distance of 500m from peoples homes

Local Liberal Democrats have accused Carwyn Jones AM, Minister for Planning and the Environment, of hypocrisy after hearing that he has welcomed the withdrawal of opencast plans in his Bridgend constituency whilst refusing to give the people of Merthyr any protection from a similar scheme.

In reaction to the news that Celtic Energy have withdrawn proposals for an opencast mine in Pyle, Bridgend Carwyn Jones, who represents the Bridgend constituency, said "the opencast would have had a hugely detrimental impact on people in the Pyle and Margam areas". He went on to say, "I have been working closely with local residents and campaign groups to ensure that their quality of life was not adversely affected by the proposal".

Michael German, Lib Dem AM for South Wales East said, "As Minister for Planning, Carwyn Jones has the opportunity to protect all communities in Wales form the 'detrimental impact' of opencast by introducing a 500m 'buffer-zone' between opencast sites and people's homes. So far he has not done this. The people of Merthyr Tydfil deserve just as much protection from what Carwyn Jones himself describes as the 'adverse affects' of opencast mining as the people of Bridgend."

Amy Kitcher, a Lib Dem who lives in Merthyr Tydfil, said, "With an election on the horizon, Carwyn Jones is clearly playing to the voters in his Bridgend constituency. There are no votes for him in Merthyr, so he is happy to leave us suffer the consequences of opencasting. The proposal in Merthyr would see the working face of the opencast just 37metres from people's homes. That would never be allowed in Scotland, where the Scottish Parliament has introduced a 500m buffer-zone. Merthyr Tydfil, and Wales as a whole, deserves better."