'We Are All Hoping for a Successful Outcome' - Chairman

South Wales Evening Post › September 16, 2011

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Summary

IT was a day when a Swansea Valley community was just coming to terms with the tragic death of young Harry Patterson. The five-year- old, of Alltwen, died on Tuesday evening after an accident involving the family car. But yesterday the community was again plunged into shock as news rapidly spread of four miners -- Charles Bresnan, Phillip Hill, David Powell and Garry Jenkins -- trapped at the nearby Gleision Colliery, north east of Alltwen. Councillor Marcia Spooner, ward member for Rhos, said it was hard to fathom that two such incidents could happen in such quick succession. She paid tribute to police officers for their efforts in both instances. "I can't praise police officers enough," she said. And she insisted the support of villages in the close-knit community was guaranteed. Everyone's thoughts were with those involved, she said. "It's just awful for the families and friends," said Mrs Spooner, ws ho was offering support yesterday afternoon to relatives waiting anxiously for news at Rhos Community Centre.

Mrs Spooner, who is also a Cilybebyll community councillor, has previously spoken to the owners of Gleision Colliery, but had not visited the mine itself. Parish priest Martin Perry said it was an immensely strong community that lived in the Swansea Valley. "You get a real sense that people are drawing strength from each other." Reports suggest that the mine, which is on a steep gradient, has been worked since the 1960s, and more consistently since the 1980s. By the beginning of the century there were around seven miners at the colliery. An application was submitted in 2010 by owner Coal Direct Ltd, of Victoria Road, Port Talbot, to extend underground areas of the mine, which was approved -- with conditions -- by Neath Port Talbot Council.

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Extract

'We Are All Hoping for a Successful Outcome' - Chairman

A subsequent application in 2010 regarding surfac...

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