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Merthyr Tydfil CBC has been accused of doing a deal with developers worth £800,000, in a long-running dispute over an open-cast mine. The Welsh council is alleged to have done a deal with consortium, Miller Argent, to offset £800,000 of legal costs in the 2004 planning inquiry over the Ffos-y-Fran site. The case is featured in the current issue of legal journal, Independent Lawyer, where solicitor Paul Stookes, from environmental law specialist Richard Buxton, comments: ‘With the Ffos-y-Fran public inquiry, there was a legal agreement between the developers and the council that the council would underwrite £800,000 of the developer's planning costs.' Mr Stookes, who represents objectors to the scheme, adds: ‘If any financial support was to be forthcoming, one would have expected this to be for locals. The council should be working for the local community rather than for a private company with a primary purpose in generating profits for shareholders.' Mr Stookes told The MJ the planned mine would be the largest of its kind in Europe, and was less than 40 metres from some of the objectors' homes. Local objectors won a High Court ruling in December 2005, which quashed the Welsh Assembly's decision to give the scheme planning permission. The Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision in November 2006, and objectors are now waiting to hear if they can take their case to the House of Lords. No-one from the council was available to comment. A spokesman for Miller Argent said it was for the council to respond, but added ‘it's not true'.

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ECONOMIC GROWTH

Council accused of 'deal' over mine

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