§ 84. Sir Raymond Gowerasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he has received a proposal from British Coal for the development of a new mine at Margam.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI am pleased to announce the Government's approval of British Coal's proposal to construct a new mine at Margam in south Wales at a cost of £90 million. Discussions with British Coal about aspects of the financing of the project are continuing and in endorsing this proposal the Government will strongly support British Coal's case for an ECSC loan attracting an interest rate subsidy .
The Margam project will directly create 780 jobs and will indirectly generate a similar number of jobs. It will make an immediate and significant contribution to the alleviation of high unemployment in the locality. The coal represents a secure source of supply for many years to come for BSC coke ovens at Port Talbot and Llanwern in place of imported coals.
The Margam project will incorporate modern British mining technology capable of high levels of sustained performance. Even so, against the background of the current and prospective low prices for coking coal available on the market, British Coal has told me that the project will not proceed unless there is agreement on the six-day production as the viability of the mine depends on equipment being operated six days a week; I agree with this judgment. In reaching my decision I have taken into account the significant advances in productivity and the positive response of the men and management in south Wales. The increase in the area's productivity of 32 per cent. over the last year has shown what the combination of forward-looking attitudes and investment in new British mining technology can achieve at existing pits. I am confident that the area will continue to adapt to the changes that are essential if the industry is to prosper.