Coal tips moved to ‘most at risk’ list since 2022

Since being elected to the House of Lords, Carmen Smith has been critical of the Welsh and UK governments’ response to tip restoration.

Baroness Smith said the Welsh government should review the funding allocated to secure tips, given the reclassification of some to higher-risk categories.

She also argued that more information should be shared with the public.

“The Welsh government’s efforts to publish maps of where the coal tips are located is an important step,” she said, “but communities need to be convinced that the tips are being monitored regularly”.

She added that the government’s Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill is “good progress” but was too late.

“What’s disappointing is that the authority this bill sets to create won’t be in place until April 2027, and that is the authority that they plan to use to come up with the remediation plans, so I fear that we won’t see remediation until 2028 at least,” she said.

“There’s so much that can happen before that takes place.”