Tips will never be safe due to 'enormous' cost

THERE will more than likely never be enough funding for the risk posed by disused coal tips in Wales to be taken away, MPs have been told.

- ELLIE GOSLEY

Representatives from four Welsh councils appeared in front of the House of Commons’ Welsh affairs committee on June 11 and explained that while funding announcements for coal tips are welcome, they only “scratch the surface” of the scale of the problem within their local authorities.

The committee was held just hours before Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the UK Government will give Wales £118m over the next three financial years to “keep coal tips safe in Wales”.

First Minister Eluned Morgan explained the amount pledged by the UK Government was the maximum they had asked for.

The Welsh Government previously said £600m is needed to remediate the dangerous legacy of mining in the south Wales valleys and is carrying out mapping of recorded coal tips in order to provide a more up-to-date cost estimate. That figure is not yet available.

However, adding together the UK and Welsh Government money, the total allocated to making coal tips safe in Wales currently sits at £221m.