Update 22/02/18

Appeal for residents to make contact to arrange inspections

Neath Port Talbot Council wants people living in areas of Pantteg Identified on the recently updated risk and hazard map as being in high or very high risk zones to get in touch to arrange for their homes to be inspected.

The updated risk and hazard map places a number of homes in very high or high risk zones (red and pink zones on the updated map) and the authority is now reminding people with property in these two zones to contact the council so it can carry out a programme of inspections.

The inspections will involve visual examination of the interior and exterior of properties under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

The HHSRS is a risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings.

Officers from Neath Port Talbot Council advised those present at the Pantteg Public Meeting held on January 29, 2018 to contact the council – either via its dedicated helpline or e-mail address – to provide the authority with their contact details so the council could arrange mutually convenient appointments to inspect properties in the high and very high risk zones.

Since the public meeting the council has only received contact details in relation to four properties, all of which have subsequently been inspected. Officers are currently in discussion with their expert advisors to establish an inspection project plan identifying those properties which it is felt should be inspected as a priority.

The council will be rolling out the inspections shortly but contact details from residents would greatly assist this process. Residents are therefore urged to contact the council via the dedicated helpline or email address (01639 686288) or pantteg@npt.gov.uk.

Pantteg landslide area and the 17/02/18 earthquake

The fresh landslip which occurred prior to the earthquake (involving approximately ten tonnes of material) discovered close to the chapel in Pantteg last week thankfully involved no injuries to anyone or damage to any properties or roads.

The 4.6 magnitude earthquake (at a depth of 7km) with its epicentre at Cwmllynfell recorded on the afternoon of Saturday, February 17, 2018 was felt across a wide expanse of the UK including South Wales and the South West of England and there have been no recorded injuries to anyone and no recorded damage to properties anywhere.

Matthew Eynon, Ground Engineering Specialist and Chartered Geologist at Earth Science Partnership, the council’s geological and environmental science consultants on the issues at Pantteg, said of the earthquake:

Landslides and seismic events are generally the result of different processes. However, there are examples of landslides being triggered by earthquakes globally, but these don’t typically occur in the UK.
Landslides have been recorded in Pantteg for well over a century and there is no apparent link with seismicity; the instability recorded during recent times (including 2017 and early 2018) did not correlate with an earthquake.
We are not aware of any further problems at this time. No damage has been reported from Pantteg itself (the most recent ten tonne landslide having occurred prior to Saturday 17th February 2018,). Any significant geomorphological changes will be assessed as part of our ongoing work.