Terrifying landslide reminded me of Aberfan

A woman displaced after a landslide said "never in a million years" did she think her daughter would hear the same sounds as the people affected by the Aberfan disaster.

Tina Honeyfield, from Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, and her family will be in a rental property for at least six months after their house was severely damaged.

Around 40 homes were evacuated in November, after a river of tip waste ran through the streets during storm Bert.

Deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies has promised to "rapidly" consider plans for a permanent fix to a coal tip above Cwmtillery.

As they sat down for dinner, it dawned on Tina that she could no longer see the street from her window, adding: "It took me a little while to comprehend what was happening.

"My daughter was up in her room at the time and she'd heard something like a low flying jet.

"That was the landslide that she was hearing."

The destruction caused by the landslide reminded Tina of the Aberfan disaster which cost 116 children and 28 adults their lives.

A colliery spoil tip collapsed, catastrophically engulfing a primary school and surrounding houses on 21 October 1966.

"I was reading the testimonials from Aberfan last night and one of the survivors said exactly the same thing. When they were in school, they heard it coming and it sounded like a low flying jet," she said.

"I never thought in a million years that my daughter would hear the same sound that those children must have heard on that terrible day."

The ordeal has been "really stressful" for the community who live in fear every time they hear the bad weather returning, she said.

Tina and her family were among those evacuated - returning briefly the next day to rescue their pet cat.

"Our house bore the brunt so we're the only ones that have not been able to go back," Tina added, as she faces up to another six months away.

Blaenau Gwent council owns the tip and has been conducting the repair work, with the Welsh government offering £174,000 worth of funding so far.

It has seen the installation of a new drainage system and protective matting, with the local authority saying this has "removed the immediate risk" to homes below.

It comes as new legislation makes its way through the Senedd to set up a Disused Coal Tips Authority.

But Blaenau Gwent council's leader Stephen Thomas said they could not afford to wait for it to come into force before deciding on a permanent solution for the Cwmtillery tip.

"A longer term fix is what the people of Cwmtillery want to see and as soon as possible," he said.

"The bill is going through as we speak and there'll be a new body (to manage coal tip safety across Wales) from 2027.

"Essentially though we need some action before then and that was our message to the deputy first minister today."

Mr Irranca-Davies, also cabinet secretary for climate change, met with Tina and other local residents as he returned to the site to review the repair work.

He said the council had submitted a bid for £610,000 under the Coal Tip Safety Grant Scheme for the delivery of the next phase of works - including culvert repairs and drainage works.

He promised to "rapidly" consider plans for a long-term solution for the site, but would not be drawn on whether the tip would have to be removed, as some residents have called for.

"This isn't going to be a problem of funding, this is going to be 'have we got the right solution and can we get on with it quickly'," he said.

"The landslip emphasised how vital our work on coal tip safety is.

"We have invested more than £100m since 2022 to help ensure communities living in the shadows of former tips are safe, both now and in the future."

The Mining Remediation Authority is conducting weekly inspections of the tip, with twice daily visits during periods of heavy rain.

Across Wales, 360 tips have been classed in recent years as having the potential to impact public safety and requiring regular inspection.