MS, Cabinet Secretary for
Economy, Energy and Planning: In December 2018, the then Cabinet
Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, MS, introduced a new
policy context for fossil fuel extraction and with that
the Town and Country Planning
(Notification) (Coal and Petroleum) (Wales) Direction 2018.
Planning Policy Wales (Edition 12) contains the Energy Hierarchy
for Planning which puts the extraction of carbon intensive energy
minerals at the bottom. This means that priority should be given
to energy efficiency and renewable energy
Planning Policy Wales also states proposals for opencast,
deep-mine development or colliery spoil disposal should not be
permitted except in wholly exceptional circumstances where they
would need to demonstrate they are needed in the context of
climate change emissions reductions targets and for reasons of
national energy security.
The policy of Welsh Government is to bring to a managed end the
extraction and use of coal. A Coal policy statement
was published in March 2021
which was an important step towards that goal.
In order to ensure that the Coal Policy Statement and the Town
and Country Planning (Notification) (Coal and Petroleum) (Wales)
Direction 2018 are sufficiently robust, I am replacing the
2018 Direction so that coal, extracted from mineral-working
deposits, including disused tips, will come within the scope of
the new 2026 Direction.
From 7 April 2026, where a local planning authority does not
propose to refuse a planning application for the development of
petroleum or the development of coal including coal extracted
from mineral-working deposits (including disused tips), the
authority must notify Welsh Ministers to provide an opportunity
to decide whether to call in the application for
determination.
