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East Ayrshire Council accused of 'failings' over mining clear-up costs East Ayrshire Council accused of 'failings' over mining clear-up costs
(about 2 hours later)
Councillors in East Ayrshire are due to discuss a damning report on the way the local authority handled opencast mining projects in the area. East Ayrshire Council is discussing a damning report on its handling of local mining projects amid a £161m shortfall to restore former opencast sites.
The collapse of two opencast companies last year left multi-million pound bills for clearing up and restoring former mine sites. The huge clean-up bill was left behind by the collapse last year of Scottish Coal and another firm, ATH Resources.
The report, by independent mining engineers, said there had been significant failings. An independent review of the council's planning authority role has highlighted widespread failures among officials.
It said failure to appoint independent assessors was "inexplicable". These include inadequate monitoring and failures to appoint independent assessors and report problems.
Scottish Coal, which operated opencast mines in a number of areas in central Scotland including Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and Fife, went into liquidation in April last year.Scottish Coal, which operated opencast mines in a number of areas in central Scotland including Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and Fife, went into liquidation in April last year.
Another company running opencast mines, ATH Resources, was wound up in May.Another company running opencast mines, ATH Resources, was wound up in May.
This left local authorities, including East Ayrshire, facing clean-up bills. Bond shortfalls
However, restoration bonds from the operators, which were intended to pay for environmental improvements, did not come close to meeting the true cost of the work. The cost of restoring the opencast sites once they were closed was to be paid by restoration bonds from the operators.
East Ayrshire alone has 22 opencast mines which will need to be restored. Following the collapse of ATH and Scottish Coal, it was discovered that the value of the bonds were significantly short of the clean-up costs.
The independent report, commissioned by the council, will be considered by councillors later. Last year, East Ayrshire Council said the total notional cost of restoration of 22 mines in the areas was £161m but only £28.6m was set aside in restoration bonds.
It alleged that there was a lack of awareness within the senior management of East Ayrshire Council of the environmental damage wreaked by the operators and the financial implications. Major deficits were also reported in South Lanarkshire (£34m) and Dumfries and Galloway (£15m).
In the immediate aftermath of the mining firms collapse, East Ayrshire Council set up an independent review of its planning process in relation to opencast mines.
A three-man team, led by former Scottish government chief planner Jim Mackinnon, has now delivered a damning report on how East Ayrshire officials handled their statutory duties.
The investigation discovered that an independent study, which examined restoration guarantee bonds for opencast coal mines, had been carried out in 2006.
Although it contained warnings which were passed on to council officials, these were never heeded or acted upon.
The report also found that opencast sites in East Ayrshire "were not visited or inspected on a regular basis" and that "monitoring progress on sites was wholly inadequate".
The review panel described a failure by council officials "to appoint independent assessors" as "completely inexplicable".
'Management failings'
It concluded that there were "significant management and communication failings, particularly within the planning service" and that this statutory role was "not given the priority that was required in relation to the operations of opencast coal operators".
The report goes on to highlight inadequate staff resources "devoted to regulation of the opencast coal industry" and "issues in respect of training and lack of technical mining knowledge among relevant council officers".
The review panel said previous operations of the council's planning department meant it was "difficult, almost impossible to establish precisely what did or did not happen, with or without planning approval" among opencast operators.
The report said there was a lack of awareness within the senior management of East Ayrshire Council of the environmental damage wreaked by the operators and the financial implications.
It added that "persistent failures" to comply with the terms of planning permissions and legal agreements should have been identified and addressed.It added that "persistent failures" to comply with the terms of planning permissions and legal agreements should have been identified and addressed.
It described the local authority's failure to appoint independent assessors as "inexplicable".
Further investigations are expected before any decision is made on disciplinary proceedings against council officials.Further investigations are expected before any decision is made on disciplinary proceedings against council officials.
The council said the total notional cost of restoration was £161m, however it said it had never been suggested that it would spend this amount. It has about £28.6m set aside in restoration bonds. 'No legal duty'
It said a "flexible alternative approach" was required to deliver a reasonable degree of restoration at a substantially reduced cost. The council has stated that it has "no absolute statutory or other legal obligation" to meet the £161m shortfall for cleaning up the opencast sites.
There are also said to be major deficits in South Lanarkshire (£34m) and Dumfries and Galloway (£15m). Fiona Lees, chief executive of East Ayrshire Council, said: "There is unlikely to be sufficient funding from any and all potential sources to deliver full restoration as envisaged in the original restoration plans and so a flexible alternative approach is required to deliver a reasonable degree of restoration at a substantially reduced cost.
"The council continues to actively engage with the current operators of active sites - landowners, all relevant public agencies and a range of other third parties to promote and deliver acceptable alternative restoration solutions.
"We will engage with our local communities on these proposed schemes on a site by site basis."
The Scottish government said it shared "the concerns of local communities about the long-standing issue" of restoration costs.
A spokeswoman said it had set up the cross-party Scottish Opencast Coal Industry Taskforce to bring together all relevant parties and made good progress on issues such as restoration.