‘Promised’ road may never come
Villagers furious firm may not fully rebuild road:
VILLAGE residents are “furious” that a mining firm might not fully rebuild a road it “promised” to restore.
The road from Rhigos in Rhondda Cynon Taf to Cwmgwrach in Neath Port Talbot, shut in 1997 when a controversial opencast mine was opened.
A condition of the project’s planning permission was to restore the route, known as Parish Road, when work came to an end.
John Morris, 67, is a retired miner who once worked at the opencast site. He said he was “absolutely furious” at the situation and was not aware that plans to reinstate the original road could change until a consultation was held by Celtic Energy in November 2019.
Residents had a chance to choose from three possible outcomes for Parish Road, including a bridleway or dirt track, and could raise other options if they wished.
He said he and other miners campaigned for the site to open, because it would bring jobs to the area but it was on the basis that Parish Road would be restored.
“We didn’t know there would be any change to the original plans for the roads to be reinstated until November,” he said.
“On the form there was no sign that there was a fourth option, for the road to be reinstated as people were promised around 20 years ago.”
Celtic Energy has since said a fourth option of a properly surfaced road had now been put to residents.
Neath Port Talbot
Council is understood to have held a bond of more than £14m since planning was granted – about £1m of which was supposed to be earmarked for the road.
Mr Morris claimed: “Money was set aside for a purpose, and I feel this money is going elsewhere – into other projects.”
Allan Jones, 41, of Cwmgwrach, said the community was “split” over what should happen to Parish Road, and claimed the authorities were looking to do the “cheapest and quickest” option they could to reinstate it.
“I think if you are not going to put the proper road there you should spend the same amount of money in developing the area in other ways. They are getting away easy,” he said.
“I can see why people want the original road back and I can also see that it would be a haven for fly-tipping. The upkeep of the [original] road was terrible. There were issues with litter, anti-social behaviour and drugs - especially with the increasing dumping going on around south west Wales.”
However, Mr Jones said it was a “catch 22”.
“I can also see how the residents who live near the road welcome a bridleway because they don’t want to deal with the excessive traffic, and issues that could bring.”
Mr Jones said, ideally, he would like to see the original plans carried out. However, if a bridleway went ahead, he wants to see investiment in CCTV, picnic areas and cycle paths to make up costs.
Chief executive of Celtic Energy, Will Watson, said: “Celtic Energy has been in discussions with the Neath Port Talbot CBC for the last few years to agree the details of the revised restoration scheme at the site.
“We agreed that in respect of Parish Road we would consult the two local communities at either end of the site before submitting a proposal for Parish Road to NPTCBC.
“The consultation demonstrated that there are effectively opposing views at either end of the site and once we have concluded our review of the consultation responses, we will submit a scheme to NPTCBC for their consideration.
“The precise details may be different from what was suggested 20 or so years ago, but there have been a number of revisions to the restoration scheme agreed between Celtic Energy and the local authority since then and we are now working from the current approved documents.”
Mr Watson said an extra option was added to the consultation, to allow people to choose a properly surfaced road if they wished, which he said was the most supported option by Rhigos residents.
Neath Port Talbot Council was asked to comment.