Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill - our response

We strongly support this urgently needed legislation. The issue of dangerous tips and quarries has been well known for decades in Wales, and of course in particular since the tragic coal tip disaster of Aberfan in 1966.

Extreme weather events caused by climate change are becoming more frequent and more extreme, causing unprecedented tip destabilisation – including in Tylorstown and most recently in Cwmtillery. This will only increase as the impact of climate change is felt in Wales as throughout the world. There have also been welcome steps taken to assess the scale of the problem in recent years.

However we believe the scale of the problem and the sensitivity of the areas, as well as the impact on communities and on nature, requires a public authority and public funding to deal with dangerous tips and make them safe. Individual local authorities have neither the capacity, expertise nor funding necessary to do this on their own, leaving a dangerous gap which could see private companies step in and propose ‘solutions’ based on financial gain from removing and selling the coal, rather than taking an approach which puts safety and welfare first and prioritising tips that put communities at risk.

We are already seeing this situation arise with 2 of the tips at Bedwas in Caerphilly Council area, and fear that this could escalate into a dangerous new coaling industry – as we have seen with opencast coal mining and its repercussions and legacy on communities and landscapes in recent decades. We cannot let this happen again, as this committee’s report ‘Restoration of Opencast Mining Sites’ published in August 2024 evidenced and made recommendations regarding.