Support for Skewen residents

We know that the mine flooding incident on 21 January 2021 had significant impacts on the village of Skewen and are genuinely sorry for that. Now the clean-up begins and we understand the emotions and frustration that people feel when they see the impacts of the water on their homes.

Whilst the Coal Authority does not have legal liability for flooding from mine water and people do need to work with their insurance companies on the majority of the flood recovery work, we recognise the impacts on people’s homes and lives and we want to help where we can.

Listed below are the areas of support the Coal Authority are offering to the residents affected by the flooding.

Accommodation expenses

Please complete this form to claim expenses for short-term temporary accommodation. This is to cover the evening of 21 January – the evening you were evacuated from your home – until the point that access is once again available to your property.

For residents of Sunnyland Crescent and other evacuated, affected properties this covers the period up to and including the night of 28 January 2021.
For residents of Goshen Park this covers the period up to and including the night of when access is reinstated to Goshen Park. We currently expect this to be Friday 5 February 2021.

If you need longer-term accommodation because your home is affected by flood damage, we recommend that you speak to your insurance company to arrange this.

Bank Details

Please complete this form to allow us to pay your accommodation expenses claim directly into your bank account. You only need to provide this information to us once should you need to make any future expenses claims.

Clearing of external areas and reinstatement of gardens

We recognise that the flooding has had a significant impact on many homes and we want to offer assistance to the local community with the clean-up. Flood recovery is a matter for insurance and residents should work through their insurers in the first instance but we have been told by many who are affected that some or all of their outside clean-up and reinstatement is not covered by insurance. We will therefore offer the following support:

Immediate help clearing external areas around the property of ochre, mud and debris. Crews will start onsite Monday 1 February in Sunnyland Crescent and then move to Jubilee Close, Highlands, Dynever Road, Cwrt-Y-Clafdy and surrounding areas before starting in Goshen Park on Monday 8 February when the new temporary access is available
Support to reinstate gardens and outside areas back to how they were before the flooding. This includes things like fence panels, grass, gravel and patching holes or cracks in driveways and the replacement of garden furniture or outdoor play equipment up to a total of £2000 of materials (excluding VAT) (along with the provision of labour)

The eligibility criteria for such support are as follows:

A person eligible for support must be an owner or occupier of a home flooded in Skewen on 21 January 2021;
The resident is responsible for contacting the Coal Authority through the residents helpline 0800 288 4268 to request assistance
The resident will need to agree in writing with the Coal Authority or its contractors what garden reinstatement will be provided
The cap for garden / outdoor reinstatement work (not including the initial clearance of ochre, gravel or small debris) is £2000 (excluding VAT) of materials per household
The Coal Authority will provide other reasonable assistance such as labour at its sole discretion

Please complete this form to confirm your permission for us to access your property to clear it from ochre and debris and/or apply for support to reinstate external areas of your property that have been affected.

If you have any questions or concerns about completing any of the forms listed above, or you would like our help, please phone our Skewen community liaison team on 0800 2884268.

We will be collecting personal data and we may need to share with third parties but we will only do so where we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to carry out our statutory obligations under the Coal Industry Act 1994 and the Coal Mining Subsidence Act 1991 or to comply with any legal obligation. You can view our privacy notice on our website at GOV.UK/coalauthority or we can send a copy to you.