As a visitor to Cefn Coed you can’t miss the hum of construction work and the beeping of diggers and lorries. But for the people living there this is “nothing” compared to how it was.
As one resident put it: “You’d have neighbours over and they’d say: ‘What the hell is that?’ Because you would feel the floor shake.” Located less than two miles from Merthyr Tydfil town centre Cefn Coed is the village to the right of the A470 before you head northbound into Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.
For years the community came to a complete standstill because of the 11-mile stretch of major roadworks on the A465 that cut through the village. On track to finish by mid-2025 the Heads of the Valleys road is set to cost more than £1bn and is hoped to improve road safety – something welcomed in theory by many locals and road users. The Welsh Government has overall responsibility for the project, which is set to transform 11 miles of the A465 into a dual carriageway in each direction in a bid to improve both safety and traffic flow. They appointed Aberdare-based construction company Future Valleys to carry out the dualling.
READ MORE: Empty landmark to be transformed into restaurant by top chef
READ MORE: Roofers dump huge pile of rubbish outside man’s front door
However what is supposed to be short-term disruption feels like a “never-ending battle” to people living in the village. In 2022 and 2023 business owners told WalesOnline how their trade was completely killed when the road bridge at the top of lower Cefn Coed High Street shut in September 2021 as customers had reduced access into the village. Meanwhile residents complained of “roaring” piledrivers, constant lorries, and dust. For the latest Merthyr Tydfil news sign up to our newsletter here.
As of October 2024 there have been some welcome improvements for residents. The road bridge has re-opened allowing traffic to once again flow through the community. And although the works are ongoing construction has increasingly moved away from homes leading to less dust and less noise.
However that has provided little relief to those who claim the works have left their homes cracked and damaged, or to those who have lost land and are fighting for fair compensation. Darryl and Ann Wilkins’ home in Pearce Court overlooks the works. The couple, who are in their late 70s, told WalesOnline they have been treated “absolutely shockingly” throughout the process.
Showing WalesOnline several deep cracks throughout the home, where the couple raised their family and have lived for 40 years, Darryl said: “I started noticing problems with the house around 18 months ago.
“I was on the spin bike out in the shed. I saw something in front of me and thought: ‘That’s a big cobweb’. Then I realised it wasn’t a cobweb – it was a crack. After that various cracks started to appear.
“There’s a crack [in the living room] and it goes all the way through the wall – and it’s a 2ft wall. We have a crack upstairs that is bigger than that and it also goes right through the wall. Before the work started we had a survey done which showed no damage to the house – now we have cracks and [construction firm Future Valleys] is telling us there is no damage.”
It’s not just cracks which are causing the couple concern. Since construction began 11 of their windows have blown, which the couple said have all been replaced by Future Valleys.
Darryl said: “What we started to notice was in my bedroom upstairs the bottom of the window had water in it – it kept filling up. We were up there one day and the water had gone. There was so much vibration that it shook the water out of the window. All the seals had broken and blown on 11 of our windows. This started within a month or two of them piledriving.
“We fought to get [our windows fixed] and we had them done about a month ago. They agreed to do it but won’t admit responsibility. They said they would do it as a ‘goodwill gesture’.”
The couple said the last few years had had a terrible impact on them both physically and mentally. This includes Darryl having asthma attacks for the first time in years during the height of the dust, he said. Although his breathing issues have improved he said his mental state is worse than ever.
He said: “I have suffered terribly mentally and physically. I shake like a leaf. I’ve had no end of trouble.” He pointed at Ann, adding: “She really worries about me.
“If they turned around and said: ‘We will put it all this right in several months’ time’ the weight would be taken off our shoulders because we will never find the money to repair all this damage.” Darryl and Ann said they are not looking for financial compensation. All they want is for the damage to be rectified.
A few doors down lives Mandy MacMillan. She said she has been trying to find a solicitor to help her with the damages she claims have appeared throughout her home since the work started. This includes cracks in her walls and stone which fell from the top of her garage.
“The problems started when they were piledriving,” she said. “Everything in the house was shaking, everything in the cupboards shook. It’s less of a problem now but the cracks are still there.
“We haven’t been able to do anything about it yet because we haven’t been able to find a solicitor. I want a local solicitor who understands the area but all of the ones I have contacted say they can’t work for us because they have [work] with the Welsh Government.”
Currently there is work happening right outside Mandy’s home to build a drainage system. Since construction started on the road Mandy said she has dealt with work immediately outside her home and she has not had access to her garage for three years.
She said: “This whole thing has been frustrating. It’s the stress of it all, the mess, the dust, there’s rubble everywhere. It’s like you’re living in a building site. Recently they removed the [old] drain from outside my house and put this [new] one in, which is good. However they had to alter it twice because the first design wasn’t right.
“I understand that things can go wrong but the first phase was supposed to last two weeks – but it ended up being umpteen weeks. The year before last our garage flooded because the kerb stone was removed from outside the house and we live at the bottom of a slope. This new drain looks like a good job and we hope it will prevent flooding but we won’t know for sure until it’s finished and we have a heavy downpour.”
READ MORE: Police seal off busy bridge
READ MORE: Hospital doctor fraudulently gave drugs to close relation for years
Ian Davies partly owns a property on the street which temporarily lost a large section of garden for the construction. A small part has been permanently lost.
Although Ian has received some compensation he said he has had to fight “tooth and nail” to get a fair deal. He said: “We have known about this for the last 10 years. We started negotiating with a company that was originally going to carry out the work. Figures were banded around, which were a lot higher than what we had. They lost the contract to Future Valleys.
“Three years ago in August they told us they would take the land in a week. They explained what would happen and they offered next to nothing compensation.
“They took about 60% of the garden – they have returned much of that. Within that 60%, 10% [will be permanently lost] with the shape of the road. Compared to how much money was originally promised they came back with a figure less than 10% and then we had to fight and fight and fight for them to raise that a bit.”
Although Ian said he is pleased that he has received an amount closer to what he believes is fair he hopes lessons can be learned from the situation in Cefn Coed. He said: “To me, before they take any land or do anything, they should agree on proper timescales, proper compensation, and guarantee that everything is going to be put right – but they haven’t done that really.
“It’s been three years of not knowing and constantly fighting for a fair deal, fighting to make sure they’re going to put everything right. I think the process is all wrong. They seem to take first and then try and agree on some kind of package afterwards.
“They offer you the bottom level for everything and then you have to fight tooth and nail to get what you think is a fair deal. When you do fight you are made to feel like a money-grabber when all we want is for everything to be put back tidy to what it was.
“To be fair after some moaning they seem to be sorting it all out now. However it has been a long and difficult process and they probably should have compulsory purchased [these properties].”
He said he feels for people living in the area who may be older or more vulnerable or who do not have the confidence or representation to fight as he has. He said: “At the end of the day we all have lives to live and we haven’t got time to be fighting this all the time but I do feel for people who maybe haven’t got anyone to represent them such as the elderly.”
A Welsh Government spokesman, also responding on behalf of Future Valleys, said: “We are working closely with the individual residents to resolve their issues.”
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
