2. Will the First Minister make a statement on opencast mining in Wales? OAQ(5)0043(FM)

There are serious issues, as she will know, of course, relating to opencast mining and the restoration of sites. We know that, in 1994, the UK Government did not require operators to set aside enough money for restoration, and so the UK Government have a moral responsibility to work with us to ensure that sites are restored.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. You will know that Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council recently passed a partial restoration of Margam opencast area. But, of course, that’s partial restoration, and many of the residents there are concerned about the future and the void not being restored, and also, with it being in Celtic Energy’s hands, for that full restoration to take place. I was wondering whether you could give us a commitment here today, First Minister, even though that’s not part of the plan, in terms of the void, whether you could seek to bring people together to look to restore that eventually, because I think people are concerned, especially as key people within the council are also concerned now about how that will be restored if there are any flooding problems within that void.

Well, I agree with the concern that she expresses. She will know that there is an effect on my constituency as well. In 1994, when privatisation took place, those companies that took over former British Coal sites were specifically excluded from being required to put aside finance for restoration, and this is why we are where we are now. Partial restoration is welcome, but it isn’t full restoration, and there must be full restoration in time. Given the fact that it was the UK Government that created this problem, there is no doubt in my mind that they have a responsibility to work with us in order to resolve the problem.

I’m sure Members across the Chamber will be pleased to welcome with me the withdrawal of Varteg opencast application in my constituency. And I’m very grateful to the International Council on Monuments and Sites UK, which I invited to visit the site last year, and to Cadw, for their objections, which led to the application being withdrawn. But, of course, most communities cannot rely on the protection of being in a World Heritage Site and do need to rely on us as a National Assembly and the protection that we give them. What assurances can you give that the review of MTAN 2 will be taken forward as a matter of priority by this Welsh Government?

Well, I can assure the Member that a focused review of MTAN 2 was announced by the Minister prior to the UK Government’s announcement on coal-fired power stations, and that review, of course, will proceed, because we know that it’s important that the planning guidance is as up to date as possible.

First Minister, Members will know that the part restoration plans for Parc Slip are pretty unpopular, and none of us would wish to see the history behind that repeated. But we were talking about this in some detail over a year ago now. The local authority strongly asserts that there’s no alternative to the plans. So, is the Welsh Government holding direction of April of this year—that’s a whole year later—an indication of, perhaps, a prima facie case that perhaps there is an alternative to what’s being suggested by Neath Port Talbot, and, if not, what statutory time limits are preventing Welsh Government moving that holding direction sooner?

The difficulty in the site, of course, is that the site at the moment is in the custody of a company that, in reality, doesn’t exist. It’s registered in the British Virgin Islands, and if legal action were to be taken against it, I have no confidence that that organisation would continue to exist, leaving nobody, as she knows, against whom legal action can lie. To my mind, it is important that the UK Government recognises its responsibilities. This was created not by the current UK Government but by a UK Government in 1994. There is no doubt that the amount of money we’re talking here for the full restoration of just one site at Parc Slip is huge. It cannot be reasonable to expect the local authority nor the Welsh Government to meet the full costs of that restoration.