We, the petitioners, demand the Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council deliver the original restoration deal promised to residents since 2007.

Residents have paid the price with 16 years of noise and dust pollution, now to be told the mining company has been allowed to sneak away with profits from 15 months of illegal coal mining and evade the £120 million restoration bill.

The Welsh Government directly approved the coal mine in 2005 and so shares with Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council responsibility for letting the mining company continue coal mining illegally, and eventually evade paying for the restoration it was contractually required to. Local residents, Chris and Alyson Austin say "We have been betrayed by the government departments that are there to protect and support us. We are sickened by this whole affair and we call on the Welsh Government to stand up and sort out this sorry mess now; once and for all."

It has been revealed that the Council is now scrabbling to settle for a budget-job on the site with just 10% of the cash needed. The resulting eyesore would be the ultimate betrayal of the residents of Merthyr Tydfil, and further imperil nature recovery in Wales. This would likely include a "lake feature" to avoid filling in the massive void left by coal mining with soil - but these lifeless water bodies exist at other abandoned coal mines in South Wales containing toxic levels of heavy metals from exposed coal seams, behind barbed wire fences, and surrounded by warning signs. That cannot be repeated here.

In terms of responsibility: the Welsh Government directly approved the coal mine in 2005 and so shares with Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council responsibility for letting the mining company continue coal mining illegally, only to evade paying the even bigger clean up now needed - despite being contractually required to.

A 2014 report commissioned by the Welsh Government warned of the risk that restoration funds would not be secured for restoration of the sprawling Ffos-y-fran opencast coal mine. What action was taken? With less than a month to go until the mine would be abandoned, the Coal Authority wrote "the Council have made very little visible progress in preparing for the closure and / or abandonment of the surface mine." despite the fact that "there is a clear risk to public safety and to the environment if the site becomes abandoned.".

We demand the Welsh Welsh Government and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council together commit to:

1. a public inquiry into this debacle to ensure accountability in public bodies
2. the original restoration promised in 2007
3. recovery of revenue got by illegal activities from Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd
4. the outright ban on coal mining so this will never again happen in Wales

Yours faithfully,