AberdareOnline was invited on Friday, 12, to a section of Aberdare Cemetery where we were shown what can only be described, however uncomfortably, as a makeshift waste dumping area. The site sits just a few metres from burial plots, some of which appear to be recent interments. Standing among headstones and memorials, the sight of discarded materials was jarring and deeply inappropriate for a place meant to offer dignity and remembrance.
Residents pointed out that the waste includes broken gravestones, construction debris, and what appears to be other forms of commercial waste. While it’s unclear how long the materials have been accumulating, the fact that they are plainly visible raises troubling questions. Under the Bereavement Services Rules and Regulations, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has a clear responsibility to maintain cemeteries in good order and repair, not to permit or ignore the creation of dumping sites within them.
We were told that this problem had been reported to both RCT Council and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), yet no responses were received. This lack of engagement echoes wider concerns about waste management across Cynon Valley.
In fact, NRW had previously given advice and guidance to RCT Council on another site, requiring them to remove 1,460 tonnes of waste to comply with the 1,000-tonne limit under the U1 exemption. The council agreed to complete the removal by 31 March 2016, but its failure to comply meant the waste, amounting to several tonnes, ultimately had to be cleared at the expense of local ratepayers.
This involved transporting waste from the £50-million Aberdare school project to Glynhafod, dumping and grading it on the mountainside, and now repeating the entire process to move it again to a landfill site. Residents pointed out that this means around 150 twenty-tonne lorry movements through the narrow streets of Cwmaman, an already difficult route even without heavy vehicles.
At a time when council tax continues to rise and public services face further cuts, many question why the Labour-run council claims to be short of money while simultaneously creating costs through mismanagement.
Unfortunately, illegal waste disposal appears to be becoming all too common in Cynon Valley. AberdareOnline has previously raised concerns with RCT Council, NRW, the Welsh Minister for the Environment, the Ombudsman, and the police regarding tarmacadam waste dumped at the Ynys Sports Field. That material eventually washed into the Cwmbach Community Wetlands after Storm Burt, yet no meaningful action was taken, and the waste remains.
Now, with a suspected waste site inside Aberdare Cemetery itself, the question remains: will anyone in authority take this seriously? Based on past experience, many fear it will be quietly dismissed or deemed “not in the public interest” to investigate.
For now, the waste remains where it is, an unsettling sight in a place intended for peace, respect, and remembrance.
Local Authorities’ Cemeteries Order 1977: Under Article 4 of this Order, the Burial Authority has a duty to “keep the cemetery in good order and repair.” Allowing a pile of industrial waste to accumulate next to graves would likely be a failure to uphold this duty of maintenance and good order.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Natural Resources Wales were asked to comment, but no response was received.
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