THE official reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries has taken place.
Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, Liz Saville Roberts, attended the opening on Monday, 13 February.
Welsh Slate’s reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt y Bugail quarries will create 19 new jobs for the area.
The company is also expanding its operations at Penrhyn quarry near Bethesda, which will bring another 10 jobs. Welsh Slate said the 29 jobs are just the start of their expansion plans and they are “looking for even more” new roles in the future.
Plans to extract 250,000 tonnes of Penrhyn purple slate were approved in November. The decision extends the life of the quarry to the end of 2035.
Commenting on the official reopening of the quarries, Mrs Saville Roberts said: “I was pleased to attend the official reopening of the Ffestiniog and Cwt-y-Bugail quarries, a development which creates 19 new jobs for the area.
“This is good news for Blaenau Ffestiniog and the wider Meirionnydd economy. These new jobs signal a 13 per cent increase in the workforce.
“Cwt-y-Bugail has been producing slate since 1840 and it is exciting to see the site being developed once again for the extraction and processing of Welsh slate.
“In addition to the 19 new jobs in Ffestiniog, another 10 have been created between Minffordd Quarry and the Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda.
“The increasing demand for Welsh slate is contributing to the creation and safeguarding of local jobs - underscoring the continued value of slate to our local and national economies.”