Ystradgynlais: 'Limited funds' to restore Nant Helen mine site
Not enough money has been set aside to complete restoration work at a former opencast mine, according to planning documents. There are plans to create a £400m Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) at the site of Nant Helen former opencast mine near Ystradgynlais, Powys. Coaling was due to stop on the site in 2021 with restoration work planned to be completed by 2022, after money was set aside by Celtic Energy. Powys County Council said enforcement action against Celtic Energy continued after the company failed to restore the site in the expected time scale.
The GCRE train testing site was first announced by the Welsh government in 2018 and aims to create a site for world-class research.In 2021, a land option deal was completed for the sites at the Nant Helen surface mine and Onllwyn coal washery, which saw Celtic Energy gift the land for the planned train, rail infrastructure and technology testing facility. An escrow account contains money set aside by Celtic Energy while coal was extracted at the site to fund restoration when work had finished.But GCRE, which is now liable for the site, said there were "limited funds contained within escrow to cover the costs of restoration".
Developers at GCRE have asked Powys council planners if detailed proposals were needed to change the already approved restoration scheme.This will determine whether revised proposed changes to the development constitutes Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development, which would need an environmental statement.GCRE planning documents said some works had been undertaken to spread soils within the former area of the opencast void, but the "majority of restoration works remain to be completed".They added the site could help "contribute" to the Welsh government's ambition of creating a national forest if tree planting were allowed there. This would be "balanced" with the original concept of upland grazing at the site and could be "funded separately" from the escrow, GCRE said. The proposed changes are not anticipated to negatively impact designated ecological or cultural heritage features, the planning documents added.
Nant Helen straddles the county border between Powys and Neath Port Talbot councils. The last version of the restoration scheme was agreed by councillors in March 2020 at planning committee meetings in both Powys and Neath Port Talbot.Councillors were "assured" at the time the £19.8m in escrow would fully fund the restoration scheme.It was revealed in September 2022 that enforcement action had been taken by Powys County Council against Celtic Energy because the company had not completed the restoration of the site in line with the planning permission and expected time scale.A council spokesman confirmed enforcement action is still ongoing and "remains open."A decision on the scoping opinion request is expected later this month.
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