The East Merthyr Reclamation Scheme was an initiative launched in the mid 1980's by the former Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council and Mid Glamorgan County Council, in partnership with the Welsh Development Agency (WDA).  The scheme was launched by the Secretary of State for Wales following the grant of planning permission.

The Scheme was to be developed in three phases and aimed to reclaim the derelict land to the east of Merthyr Tydfil by way of opencast coal mining operations, restoring the land to beneficial use at no cost to the public purse. Phases I and II of the Scheme have been completed but Phase III was delayed whilst access to the land was sought. Phases I and II have already brought about the restoration of some 106ha of derelict land, which today provides residential, light industrial and recreational uses.

The 'Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme' will be the final phase of the scheme and see the completion of these proposals.

Planning consent for the final phase of the East Merthyr Reclamation scheme (Phase III) was granted in November 1988.  However, it was generally envisaged by the developers, particularly the former British Coal Corporation, that the final phase of the Scheme would not deal with all the dereliction in the area and would sterilise as large a reserve of coal as it would win.

It was therefore formally proposed in 1994 that the Scheme be revised to recover a larger proven reserve in line with government guidance, and reclaim a larger area of derelict land, whilst simultaneously addressing a number of environmental concerns not originally considered in the Phase III proposals. The revised Scheme, submitted by Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council was referred to as 'Phase IIIA' and it is the area of this proposal that is reflected in the local plan. However, this proposal was withdrawn in May 1999 whilst issues of land access remained unresolved. Miller Argent have resolved all of these issues, and the Scheme is now moving forwards.

The 'Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme' has been designed to replace the fundamental aims of the Phase IIIA proposal whilst fully addressing the more stringent environmental concerns of the present day. The extent of this Application and the difference between these various schemes, including the location of the earlier phases are detailed in the plans and site details section of the website.