Call to action – will Wales decide Aberpergwm coal mine?
Will Wales decide Aberpergwm coal mine fate?
CALL TO ACTION
Location: Cardiff Civil and Family Justice Centre, 2 Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 1ET
Day: Wed 15th March 2023
Time: starts 0930 – ends 10:00am. (The hearing starts at 10.30am)
What:
Demonstration in support of a 2-day court hearing to rule that the Welsh Government can apply its strong policy against coal mining to stop the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion in Glyn Neath. Show up to show the Welsh Government that you care about fossil fuels and the climate change it drives.
What to bring:
Placards and banners about climate change and fossil fuels, particularly coal. Please don’t bring things that have groups’ logos on – we want this demonstration to be about the issue, not about who’s campaigning on it.
Questions?
Email: info@coalaction.org.uk
Find out more about the campaign, including key stats on Aberpergwm coal mine.
Background
Wales won the freedom to decide its own future on coal mining under The Wales Act 2017. The Welsh Government has a strong policy against mining coal on Welsh soil, and we’re here to support that policy being applied to the Aberpergwm coal mine expansion. Since 2021, the Welsh Government has told the press that its hands are tied because of a legal detail about the Aberpergwm expansion application. Yet, the UK Government, the UK Coal Authority, and even the Parliamentary Welsh Affairs Committee Chair all went on record to say it is for the Welsh Government to decide the fate of the licence to expand the Aberpergwm coal mine. Neither side could agree, and during months of finger-pointing in the press, neither side sought a definitive legal ruling on it either—and the Aberpergwm coal mine extension slipped through.
So Coal Action Network has crowdfunded this judicial review in the hope that the Cardiff Court finds the Welsh Government’s approval is needed for the Aberpergwm expansion licence to be valid. The Welsh Government will then be free to apply its policy against coal to create a greener, cleaner future for Wales.
