Coal tips safety: Residents say lessons ‘not learned’ from Aberfan disaster
Residents who live near disused coal tips in South Wales say lessons have not been learned from the Aberfan disaster nearly 60 years on.
Their comments come after a disused coal tip in Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, partially collapsed in November, forcing around 40 homes to be evacuated.
A coal tip is made up of waste material from coal mining, many of which have existed for several decades.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Evacuations after coal tip collapses
Dianne Morgan, 68, has lived in the house she had built in the Cwmtillery ward for the last 10 years.
She told Sky News she didn’t know there was a category D tip – the most dangerous – behind her property, until the slip, which happened after heavy rainfall during Storm Bert.
“All we were told was underlying mines had been there. But there was no mention of a tip when we had searches at all,” she said.
“I’m not being funny, if I had known there was a tip behind me, I wouldn’t have built here.”
Dianne Morgan
‘Got to be sorted’
There are 2,573 disused coal tips in Wales, according to Welsh government data – the vast majority of which are in the former coal mining communities of the South Wales Valleys.
Three hundred and sixty of these are in the two most dangerous categories and are monitored at least once a year as they have “the potential to impact public safety”.
Ms Morgan said she believes lessons have not been learned from the Aberfan disaster in 1966 when a colliery spoil tip collapsed killing 144 people, including 116 children.
A build-up of water within the tip after heavy rain caused it to suddenly slide downhill as slurry.
The tragedy is considered the worst mining-related disaster in British history and was more recently featured in an episode of Netflix series The Crown.
Map showing Cwmtillery, Aberfan and Cardiff in South Wales
“The tip’s got to come down,” she said, but added that the authorities “don’t want to pay”.
“They think they’ll just drag it on and on and on and then people just forget, but you’re not going to forget are you? Because every time we have pouring down rain or if you hear a noise, you come out here and I have a check just in case it’s something,” she added.
“They all talk about they’re all broke, ain’t we all? But that doesn’t matter, it’s people’s lives you’re dealing with and people’s homes at the end of the day.
“It took everything we had to build this, if that came down and wrecked this, even if I wasn’t in it, we’ve got nothing.”
She said the slip before Christmas “could have been a lot worse”.
“Irrespective of who owns it, it’s got to be sorted…’cause you don’t know where it’s going to come down next’,” Ms Morgan said.
“We’ve got to have a surety that this tip is going to be seen to, and not only this tip but other tips for other people that could be in the same situation that we are, especially with the rain we’re having at the moment.”
Brian Preece
‘Nothing getting done’
Brian Preece, 77, has lived in Cwmtillery all his life.
He told Sky News he “always played on the tips” as a child.
“We never had one inclination from anywhere in my life that them tips was dangerous,” he said.
“I played on them myself, my children played on them, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren.”
He said that if a larger tip would have come down, his street “would have gone” and the tips needed to be taken “down to a safe level”.
“They’ve said they was going to do this, and they said they was going to do that, but there’s nothing getting done and everybody’s worrying now,” he added.
“The only safe way on my behalf, and I’m sure everybody else, is they should be dropped.
“Alright, they say it’s going to cost a lot of money, [but] they’ve got to drop it. You can’t put a price on children’s lives, on anybody’s life, and it should be down.”
Sky News has approached Blaenau Gwent Council for its response.
Stuart Adams
‘Nothing has changed’
In October, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £25m in the budget for the maintenance of coal tips in Wales to ensure communities are kept “safe”.
Meanwhile, the Welsh government has outlined proposals for a Disused Tips Authority for Wales, which would take on responsibility for coal tip safety in future.
Map showing locations of Wales’s category C and D coal tips
But campaigners say the money promised to tackle the issue is not enough.
Stuart Adams, 65, regularly walks the tips at Bedwas and Cilfynydd.
Mr Adams is part of the Clear South Wales’s Coal Tips group, which is calling for action to make the tips safer.
“It’s ordinary people that are going to be affected if there is a disaster, or even a minor slip, which has just happened in Cwmtillery. They still cause masses of disruption for people,” he told Sky News.
“I’m no expert on the financial side of things, but clearly [the money’s] not enough to make these places safe.”
Mr Adams said the tip at Cilfynydd Common collapsed in 1939 and was seen as “a precursor to an Aberfan disaster”.
“Luckily no one was hurt, and no one was killed [in the 1939 slip],” he added.
“The same could quite easily happen again as nothing has changed with regards to the tips.”
Cilfynydd Common coal tip
‘First of its kind’ legislation
A Welsh government spokesperson said it had invested more than £100m in coal tip safety since 2021 “to ensure our coal tip communities are safe”.
“We have also introduced modern legislation – the first of its kind in the UK – to prevent disused coal and non-coal tips from being a threat to human life,” they added.
“The highest risk coal tips (category C and D) are regularly inspected by the Mining Remediation Authority (MRA) and we continue to work with partners across Wales to inspect sites, including additional checks during extreme weather.”
A spokesperson for the MRA (formerly the Coal Authority) said it continued to provide “support, expertise and advice” to the Welsh government.
“We undertake an inspection programme on behalf of Welsh government and other agencies, providing recommendations for maintenance requirements,” they added.
“We also continue to directly manage the 26 coal tips that the Mining Remediation Authority owns in Wales and provide management services to other landowners as needed.”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
Read more:
Girl who had leg amputated suffered harm during surgeon’s care
Child, 11, in wheelchair after surgeon’s operations
Hospital accused of ‘covering up’ concerns about suspended surgeon
Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
Read more:
Humza Yousaf hits out at Starmer’s ‘dog whistle’ stance on immigration
MPs criticise terminally ill Esther Rantzen’s assisted dying intervention
👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway