Welsh Government asks for ‘as much as we can spend’ for coal tip safety

The Welsh Government has asked for “as much as we can spend” to keep communities safe from at-risk coal tips, Eluned Morgan has said.

On a visit to the Tylortown Tip in Rhondda Cynon Taf, the First Minister of Wales insisted the country was getting the funding it needed from the UK Labour Government following a number of incidents across the Valleys.

Tylorstown Tip experienced a landslip in February 2020, when the hillside was hit by three storms in quick succession.

Some 60,000 tonnes of material fell into the Rhondda Fach River below.

And in November last year, residents in Cwmtillery in Blaenau Gwent were forced from their homes when a landslip occurred, following significant storms and flooding.

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Spending review

Baroness Morgan’s visit to the site follows a UK Government announcement that Wales would get £118 million over three years for coal tip safety, as part of the spending review last week.

Speaking to the PA news agency on the site of the landslip, Baroness Morgan said: “These communities have felt really threatened, especially when they saw that tip coming down.

“The Welsh Government got in there really quickly and said we’re going to spend some money, to introduce a new law to identify if there are any other tips that need to be sorted out.

“What we were waiting for was the UK Government to take some responsibility as well.

“We asked the Conservative government for years to take responsibility, and they didn’t. Labour came in and they gave us money.

“They have now given us more money.

“They have recognised that it was these communities that powered the empire and it’s not right that we’re cleaning up after that legacy.”

The £118m investment follows the Welsh and UK Government’s announcement of £100m for coal tip remediation last year.

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Shortfall

Ms Morgan said that “in an ideal world” Westminster would cover the entire cost of the works, but her government could not wait for that.

“We couldn’t wait for the Conservatives,” the First Minister said.

“We needed to protect these communities, that’s what Labour does, it steps in and supports communities.

“We have registered and identified where the most dangerous tips are.”

The funding announced so far falls short of the £600m the Welsh Government has previously said could be needed to ensure the safety of some 2,000 old coal tips.

However, Baroness Morgan insisted the funding so far was only the beginning.

She said: “We’ve asked for as much as we can spend and we’ll keep on asking once we’ve spent this lot of money.”