Coal tip safety must be fully funded to keep communities safe from another Aberfan disaster, a Plaid Cymru MP has said.
In 1966, a spoil-heap landslide crushed Pantglas Primary School in the coal-mining village of Aberfan near Merthyr Tydfil, killing 144, including 116 children.
The UK Government has announced £118 million over three years for coal tip safety in Wales, however Plaid Cymru’s Ann Davies is calling for further funding.
The Welsh Government previously said £600 million would be needed to ensure the safety of Wales’ coal tips, with First Minister Eluned Morgan insisting the £118 million over three years is only the beginning.
Ms Davies, MP for Caerfyrddin, will urge the UK Government to “act now, not when the next storm hits, not when the next hillside slips” during a debate on the issue on Wednesday.
In her speech in Westminster Hall, she will say: “Today’s debate is taking place a day after the 59th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, which involved the collapse of a colliery spoil tip in 1966, killing 28 adults and 116 children, and engulfing Pantglas Junior School.
“This disaster brought about the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act, which came into force as a direct result of Aberfan and did improve coal tip stability and safety.
“However, it did not go far enough. This should have been a moment to address the dangerous legacy of all coal tips once and for all, but the job remains unfinished. Now, due to increasingly violent storms caused by climate change, we have experienced further coal tip slips.
“There was a major landslide above Tylorstown in Rhondda Fach in 2020. Then, in November 2024, in Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, there was another slip caused by heavy rainfall from Storm Bert. This led to a slurry and debris slide that forced the evacuation of homes.
“No family should go to bed fearing the hillside above them — and no community should be left to foot the bill for the negligence of past governments. Plaid Cymru has long warned that the safety of our coal tips is not a matter for tomorrow; it is a matter that needs addressing urgently.”
She will go on to say: “This debate is about about justice. It is about dignity. It is about ensuring that the people of Wales are not left to carry the cost — financial or emotional — of decisions made generations ago.
“Let us act now, not when the next storm hits, not when the next hillside slips. Let us act because it is right, because it is just, and because our communities deserve nothing less.
“The Government must revisit its approach to coal tip safety in Wales to fully support the communities who, decades after the last coal was hewn from our valleys, still bear the burden of its legacy.”
In response to the Tylorstown landslide, the Welsh and UK Governments set up a joint Coal Tip Safety Taskforce to assess the immediate status of disused coal tips in Wales.
