The number of disused coal tips in Wales has been made publicly available today with interactive maps showing the locations of the 350 that are inspected more frequently.
The publication of the data comes after the Coal Tip Safety Taskforce was established following the landslide in Tylorstown in February 2020.
A key objective from the taskforce was to address the gap in information around disused coal tips and, as a result, the Coal Authority were commissioned to lead on a data collection project by Minister for Climate Change, Julie James.
In October 2021, the Welsh Government published a breakdown of tips by Local Authority and classifications where sites that require frequent inspections were labelled as C and D.
Climate Change Minister Julie James said:
“I would like to thank the Coal Authority, Local Authorities and Natural Resources Wales for their help and support in preparing the data for publication.
“It has been a mammoth undertaking to identify, record and categorise all disused coal tips in Wales into a single central database, which did not exist before.
“For this data release, we have focused on category C and D tips as they are need more frequent inspections so we can identify and carry out any maintenance when needed.”
The Welsh Government has written to more than 1,500 landowners and almost 600 occupiers of properties across Wales to inform them that they have all, or part of a disused coal tip on their land.
Maintenance and inspection work will continue as usual, and the Welsh Government has made an additional £44.4m available to Local Authorities for work to continue on both public and privately owned tips.
The Welsh Government has set up a dedicated webpage and is also holding drop-in sessions in communities impacted across Wales and hosting online events to support residents affected.
The Minister added:
“In our Programme for Government, we also committed to introducing legislation during this Senedd term.
“Our priority is to ensure that people living and working near coal tips feel safe and secure now and in the future.
“Our proposals will achieve that by setting in place a long-term, fit for purpose regime which will be led by a newly created public body.
“The First Minister included the Disused Tips Bill in his summer 2023 legislative statement and I look forward to the progression of the Bill when it is introduced to the Senedd next year.”