"I hope we're not next": Taff's Well flooding renews Glyncoch quarry fears

Residents living beside Craig Yr Hesg quarry say Friday's flooding in Taff's Well has reinforced long-standing concerns about blasting, flooding, and public safety.

Hello and welcome to The Valleys Lead.

Residents of Glyncoch are calling for greater scrutiny of quarry blasting after severe flooding in nearby Taff’s Well following a blast at a Breedon Group quarry, which locals believe may have destabilised old underground mine workings and contributed to the flooding. The incident has intensified long-standing concerns about the expansion of the Craig Yr Hesg quarry, where residents have previously raised issues about dust, environmental and health impacts, damage to homes, and blasting near a primary school.

The story is below - but just quickly - we’d love you to support The Valleys Lead. There isn’t another publication doing what we are in the south Wales valleys - covering stories from all these valleys, going behind the headlines to report on stories that matter to locals, asking questions of people in power, and speaking with real people in the valleys about their opinions and experiences. This kind of journalism takes time and effort, and we’d love your support to keep reporting about stories that need to be heard.

You can support us by simply subscribing to read two newsletters a week from us. There are free and paid options.

Simply type your email and that’s done! Or email laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com and she’ll get you subscribed.

The Valleys Briefing

(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys. Anytime you have something you’d like to share, no matter how big or small, email laurencrosbymedlicott@gmail.com):

• A vendor in Merthyr Tydfil’s newly opened market is closing. Mogsy Belle, an icecream shop that had recently expanded into the market, told The Valleys Lead: “It just didn’t work for us as there isn’t enough footfall in Merthyr Town Centre unfortunately. All stall holders are struggling to keep afloat most weeks, and for us with an already successful buisness it wasn’t worth staying for us.” They stated that “like many people in Merthyr Tydfil, we had high hopes when the brand-new indoor market opened. We truly believed it could bring more life into our town and give local businesses the boost they deserved. Sadly, that just hasn’t been the reality.” The Merthyr Tydfil market opened in December and cost £2.3 million, funded through the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns programme and the UKSPF Programme.

• Back in Merthyr Tydfil again to dispel a myth about the old Hoover Factory. There are social media posts claiming that the factory is going to be transformed into a prison. The Valleys Lead has been told by a local councillor that this is only a rumour, and not true. What is happening with the Hoover factory in Pentrebach? A planning application was approved in January to redevelop the site into a new neighbourhood, including up to 441 homes.

• An investigation has been taking place at the disused Ty Llwyd quarry in the Caerphilly County Borough over recent months to determine whether the site is officially classified as “contaminated land”. Following “extensive investigation and environmental sampling carried out by independent consultants,” Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC) concluded that Ty Llwyd Quarry does not meet the legal definition of Contaminated Land under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. But Councillor Janine Reed, who The Valleys Lead spoke to about Ty Llwd in March, said campaigners are requesting a more robust definition of contamidated land - “the current legislation is a total joke,” she told The Valleys Lead in response to the investigation. “Greenpeace tested soil and requested people to stay out of the woodland due to contamination. CCBC then put up a green metal fence around part of the community woodland to stop people entering. If the land is not contaminated why spend a considerable amount of money erecting a sizeable fence to keep people out? CCBC are stating that TY Llwyd quarry is not deemed contaminated land. To define an area as contaminated land, all three of the following conditions have to be met (source, pathway and receptor). When all three conditions are met, an area can be legally classified as Contaminated Land. What CCBC are stating is all three conditions have not been met to define Ty Llwyd quarry as contaminated, despite evidence showing Ty Llwyd quary contains dangerous chemicals including PCB’s.”

  

  The green fence erected to keep people out of Ty Llwyd quarry

“I hope we’re not next”: Taff’s Well flooding renews Glyncoch quarry fears

On Friday, homes in Taff’s Well, on the outskirts of Cardiff, were flooded after a nearby quarry blast, with emergency services urging people to avoid the area. Several residents were evacuated from their homes.

Locals said water came gushing through the village, following a 2pm blast at a nearby Breedon Group quarry, with mud and rubble swept through streets and into homes.

Taff’s Well flooding, from Difflomats, here: https://www.facebook.com/difflomats/reels/

While Taff’s Well is not technically in the south Wales valleys, the flooding has reignited fears among residents in the nearby village of Glyncoch, north of Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The Valleys Lead reported in April on the expansion of the Craig Yr Hesg quarry in Glyncoch. Residents said their “voices hadn’t been heard” when they raised concerns with Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council and the quarry operator, Heidelberg Materials, about prolonged exposure to respirable crystalline silica, environmental impacts, deteriorating mental health, and blasting taking place just 134 metres from the village’s primary school — and even closer to homes. They also claimed the blasts had caused cracks in the walls of houses and community buildings.

Now, residents fear Glyncoch could face the same fate as Taff’s Well.