Heledd Fychan Canol De Cymru - South Wales Central

Plaid Cymru urge the UK Government to pay towards making hundreds of tips and former coal tips safe

Recent data (November 2023) reveals there are 81 unsafe coal tips across Rhondda Cynon Taf and Cardiff. 

The information was collected by the Coal Tips Safety Taskforce, established after a landslip at a disused coal tip in Tylorstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf, in February 2020.  

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan has said that coal tips are the legacy of the country’s industrial history which predates devolution and causes anxiety for nearby communities.

In a motion to be debated in the Senedd today (Wednesday 8 May 2024), Plaid Cymru has called upon the Labour Welsh Government to introduce legislation to effectively monitor tips, ensure preventative work to avert danger and remedial work to reduce existing risks. 

Plaid Cymru has also urged the UK Government to urgently provide funding for the inspection and maintenance regime and to bear the long-term costs of making coal tips and former industrial sites safe.

Plaid Cymru Member for South Wales Central, Heledd Fychan MS said:

“People across Rhondda Cynon Taf and Cardiff living near disused tips and open cast mines face a daily reminder of the very real and growing risk to their homes and communities.  

“The effect of more frequent extreme weather events like we saw in Tylorstown in 2020 is a further reminder that we must take action now.”

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their homes and the UK Government must right the wrongs of the past and ensure that no community lives in fear of the coal tips.”

“I will continue to work with communities affected, and campaign to right this wrong.”