December 2, 2024 - Concerns about coal tip safety in the Wrexham area have spurred Plaid Cymru’s Llyr Gruffydd to seek assurances from the Welsh Government.

Gruffydd, who represents North Wales in the Senedd, said recent coal tip slippages in Cwm Tillery, Blaenau Gwent had reminded everyone that work to address coal tip safety across Wales must be accelerated.

The legacy of the coal industry in the North-east of Wales has resulted in hundreds of coal tips. Of these, there are four designated as Category C and therefore requiring annual inspections because it has “the potential to impact public safety”. These are the tips for the former collieries at Llay Main, Llay Hall, Gresford and Bersham.

The cost of addressing coal tip safety across Wales is estimated at £600m over 10 to 15 years, with Gruffydd noting “…the Welsh Government has only so far secured £25m from the Labor UK government for the work”.

Gruffydd said: “The recent floods and bad weather has focused attention quite rightly on the need to urgently make tips across Wales safe. That focus has so far been in the Valleys but we need to remember that there are four Category C tips in the Wrexham area. These have the potential to impact on public safety so it’s imperative that they are inspected and checked for their safety. The Cwm Tillery tip was a Category D tip and had recently been inspected so we cannot afford to be complacent.

“But we also need to change gear on delivering a long-term plan to deal with the remaining tips. The Labor Government in London has only provided £25m towards the estimated £600m cost of making tips in Wales safe. That’s frankly pathetic and means many communities will have to live in the shadow of these tips for years to come.

“The First Minister’s response to the news was equally pathetic – saying ‘There will be limits of being able to absorb additional money, because there will be limits in terms of expertise [and] equipment. If they gave us the money, it would be very difficult to use it all up because of the lack of expertise that we need to build up.’

“I’m afraid this shows a deeply worrying lack of urgency by a First Minister who doesn’t understand the concerns many communities have. I’m seeking assurances that the coal tips in the North are not ignored, and that the necessary remediation work happens with the utmost urgency.”

Senedd Debate

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies took questions on the topic in the Senedd last week, and gave a lengthy response, “Wales has a proud industrial heritage. However, many of our communities, including those that once powered the globe during the industrial revolution, are now being left with a difficult inheritance that impacts those people and places. Across Wales, there are almost 2,600 coal tips and around 1,300 metal mines, as well as thousands of sites related to other kinds of industrial activity.

“The Welsh Government’s coal tip safety programme is a crucial part of the work to tackle with the results of our industrial past. It highlights our commitment to public safety.

“The landslip in Tylorstown in February 2020 and, indeed, the incident in Cwmtillery over the weekend reminded us clearly how climate change is increasing risks for our coal mining communities, and I understand fully the concerns that so many families and businesses within those communities will be feeling, particularly during times of bad weather in the winter.

“Members have asked what we are progressing on. Well, since the programme was established in 2020, we have made significant progress. We’ve informed the public now where these tips are located and done the risk analysis.

“We’ve provided the Coal Authority and local authorities, Pred, with around £65 million to monitor the tips and maintain their safety. We’ve developed new, modernized, fit-for-purpose legislation, which I’ll introduce very shortly to the Senedd.

“This will ensure the long-term, effective management of these disused tips and reduce the threat to public safety.

“And in addition to these steps, the existing coal tip inspection and maintenance regime has introduced new opportunities for using technology.

“We want to futureproof this system by keeping pace with technological developments, so that’s why we’re undertaking a programme of technology trials right now with some of that funding, across more than 70 category C and D coal tips, alongside our public partners.

“Wales, indeed, is actually seen now, because of that legacy and because we’re seizing the ways that we can deal with this legacy, as being at the forefront in this regard. Indeed, we were pleased to host colleagues recently from overseas to share our learning and showcase the work we’re doing internationally.

“But it is crystal clear that coal tips need a sustained programme of investment, and you are right, Heledd, the Welsh Government cannot and should not do this alone.

“We’ve always maintained that this is about shared, UK-wide risks—the benefits that came out of these coalfields. We now need to share the burden of actually responding to the challenges that we have from that legacy.

“We’ve discussed the role of the UK Government in this Chamber many times, and I’m pleased that the recent autumn budget demonstrates that the Chancellor—we’ve never heard this before, over the last decade and more—has finally actually listened to us.

“It’s a first tranche of £25 million allocated for 2025-26. It’s very welcome, in addition to the investment that we have made here from the Welsh Government.

“But it is a first tranche. We’ll work with the UK Government ahead of the second phase of the spending review, to keep on making the case that Wales’s needs for future years are also considered and to help make these disused tips safe.

“And we have to use, by the way, the money as it becomes available in the way that we can, with the capacity to use it as well on the priority tips. ”

“The £25 million is the first tranche of an instalment, but it was noticeable, as we said on the floor yesterday in response to recent events, the difference, the tangible difference, when a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom actually picks up the phone, when we hear that there is a slip, and says, ‘What can I do?’ and we’re following that up.

“We will go back to the UK Government and say, ‘In light of the weekend’s events, what can we do now? How can we accelerate that programme of investment?’ in line with the capacity to actually use it productively as well. But in the meantime, our focus is going to be on delivering the current allocation. We’ve got to be structured.

“We’ve got to be precise in how this funding is used across all eligible sites in Wales, and, by the way, any landform that meets the agreed definition of a disused tip will be considered as eligible.”