A village in Wales is fearing another Aberfan disaster after travellers brought in diggers and a bulldozer that locals say will ‘destabilise’ the landscape.
More than 800 people have signed a petition to get the travellers removed from a patch of land they own in Nantyglo, Monmouthshire, after the new arrivals began carving chunks out of the land, seemingly for the purposes of settling there.
But the land has a covenant attached banning the construction of buildings on the site – and the local council has served the group with a stop notice ordering them to halt the works. The travellers insist they are ‘entitled’ to dig up the land.
Locals fear, however, that the works will disturb the fragile ground, which sits above historic mine shafts, and could spark a brand new Aberfan disaster, when a colliery spoil tip collapsed in 1966. The resulting landslip killed 144 people.
Meanwhile the travellers have set up a GoFundMe page asking for donations to help them establish a new site in the village. It has raised just £50 of a £10,000 goal.
A Traveller group has been ordered to stop removing tonnes of earth from a hillside in the Welsh valleys
Blaenau Gwent Council has served a ‘stop notice’ to the landowners, following locals raising fears the excavation could cause a landslip
Yvonne Bell, 55, who launched the petition, said: ‘I informed the council this was happening last week and that I was worried it would happen during the Easter weekend while the offices were closed’
She added: ‘We’ve been in touch with a number of different departments and people because we genuinely believe this work has begun without proper planning permission. We know this because we’ve been told it’s not safe by the council’
The earth has been removed from a sloping field next to Nantyglo Rugby Club in Blaenau Gwent, South Wales
The works have been going on for more than a week, with residents complaining of heavy machinery since late March
Mother-of-two Yvonne Bell, 55, who lives next to the excavated land, started the Change.org petition with her daughter Jasmin.
The online appeal, which has collected 880 signatures to date, says the ‘unauthorised occupation’ may constitute a breach of privacy and could push down the house prices of the properties that are overlooked by the new arrivals.
But further to that, Mrs Bell fears the works on the fragile land, which sits above old mining tunnels, could spark a new Aberfan disaster.
She said: ‘There are old mine shafts under our houses, we’ve had non-stop rain for months and now the land supporting our road and houses have been stripped away.
‘We are worried sick that what they’ve done could cause another Aberfan.’
The Aberfan disaster claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults when a mountain of coal waste fell onto the village in October 1966.
Grandmother Mrs Bell, a retired care worker, said: ‘There is a row of pensioners’ homes below the land they’re dug up and we are above it.
‘The council is saying they are concerned about the stability of the land – how are we expected to sleep at night?
‘Everyone is saying there could be another Aberfan disaster, what a horrible thought.’
One post on social media says he hoped people living next to the excavated land had good home insurance.
The travellers, who arrived in a convoy of caravans, have accused locals of racism by calling them ‘gypsies’ and throwing empty beer bottles at them.
But Mrs Bell says the group has actually been seeking to stoke tensions themselves, daubing their own caravans with words like ‘g****’ and ‘fire’ to accuse villagers of hostility.
Stop notices are served by planning authorities when there are concerns there has been a breach of planning rules
The stop notice is set to be in place for 28 days.Ahead of the stop notice being issued, some 874 people signed a petition calling for a halt to the ‘unauthorised occupation’ of the land
Another woman, named only as Anna, said she had been threatened over her views regarding the work
She said: ‘There have been no safety measures and a lot of ground has been taken away, which supports the very busy road above’
Mrs Bell said: ‘The travellers have created a cancer in our community. I know some people are intimidated by them but I will stand up and say we don’t want them here.’
She claimed a traveller dressed in a camouflage jacket used his mobile phone to take photographs of angry residents who were surveying the ugly black scar in the heart of the village.
Mrs Bell said: ‘There have been threats and intimidation, they’ve only been here a week and we’ve had problems with kids on quad bikes, howling dogs and beer bottles being thrown.
‘It won’t be long before they move a load more caravans onto the site and then the council will have to put in electricity, water and drains for them.
‘The last thing we want is a travellers site established in the middle of our village.’
The field next to the village rugby club was bought by a traveller family last year for £30,000 with the apparent intention of keeping horses on it.
This is in line with a covenant placed on the land, confirmed by land registry documents, which state it can only be used for grazing and no buildings should be erected.
But over the Easter weekend the travellers turned up with heavy plant machinery and started ripping up the field, moving tons of earth and destroying the hillside.
Six caravans arrived on the site and since then there’s been an uneasy stand-off between residents of Porters Road and the new arrivals.
The GoFundMe page to support the site works, set up by Luke Salathiel, appears to suggest the intention is to redevelop the land for residential purposes – in breach of the pledge not to develop the site.
Anna added: ‘It’s a very scary time for the residents and there have been comments circulating on social media about hoping the houses have good insurance’
Traveller families have dug out an entire hillside – and villagers fear their homes are at risk of falling down a landslip
Tonnes of earth have been excavated from what was once a hill seemingly without safety precautions in place
One post on social media allegedly put up by a traveller says he hoped people living next to the excavated land have good home insurance
Locals say there is an official council-owned traveller’s site just five minutes drive from Nantyglo
Mr Salathiel’s plea reads: ‘Hiya everyone, thanks for reading this. We need help to live. Our family and kids need somewhere to live to raise. Our family (sic).
‘Council is not providing us with the right needs so we are doing our own property up which we are entitled to do. We are sick of living in needs that is not being provided… un racial people around us.’
However, enforcement officers from Blaenau Gwent Council have put a halt to the project – turning up on Friday morning with a temporary stop notice because the groundworks do not have planning permission.
It says: ‘The works as implemented give rise to concern to the Council regarding the stability of the land and the impact on public safety.’
Locals say there is an official council-owned traveller’s site just five minutes drive from Nantyglo.
The site, at Cwmcrachen, has 19 pitches and was upgraded in 2008. But there is currently a waiting list, according to the council’s website.
Nantyglo locals say the value of their £300,000 houses has been badly hit. They fear no one would want to buy a property just yards from the unofficial encampment.
Mrs Bell said: ‘I told one of the travellers that and he just laughed and then offered me £150,000 for my place – that’s the sort of people you’re dealing with.’
Other residents of Porters Road were too afraid to be named for fear of reprisals from their new neighbours.
Travellers have been ordered to stop excavating earth on a hillside next to Nantyglo Rugby Club in Blaenau Gwent, South Wales
Locals fear the earth works could cause a landslide and have asked for council help
The council said that works would have to stop with immediate effect
One said: ‘They’ve painted the windows of their caravans with words that make it look like we’ve done it. They’re trying to flip it.
‘They say we are racists by calling them gypsies. One of them told us that he calls himself a gypsy but we can’t call him that.
‘They live beyond the law – we’ve told the police what’s going on here but they don’t want to know.’
Another woman resident said: ‘We bought our house because it’s a nice peaceful village with great views over the Welsh countryside.
‘Now we’ve got a black field and a row of caravans in front of us.
‘They’ve only been there a week but already some of us are afraid to leave our homes.’
The Council’s Temporary Stop Notice – addressed to Luke Salathiel, Thommy Bryan, Brian Thomas Salathiel and Elizabeth Withy – was pinned up at the entrance to the site.
None of the individuals named on the notice was available for comment.
Blaenau-Gwent Council was unavailable to comment.
However, the authority previously told the BBC: ‘We can confirm that we have been made aware of land development on a site in Nantyglo.
‘We are looking into this and all associated issues as a priority in order to determine an appropriate course of action.’