Ystalyfera landslip: Family 'in limbo' over home return

A woman who was told to leave her home following a landslip last year has said her family is still "stuck in limbo" six months on.

Amanda Hopkins was one of several residents in 10 homes on Cyfyng Road, Ystalyfera, which were evacuated last August.

The family has been living in a rented house paid for by the council ever since.

Neath Port Talbot council said its priority was residents' safety.

Ms Hopkins spent the first month sharing a room with her two youngest children at a bed and breakfast, while her eldest daughter stayed with friends.

Since moving into their rented home she has slept on a sofa to allow her children to have a bedroom each.

She said: "When Morganne, my eldest daughter, goes to Cardiff now and again, I obviously get to jump in her bed and when the younger children are at their father's one night a week I get another bed.

"So two nights a week I usually get to sleep in a bed."

"It's like groundhog day - you get up, you can't make any long term plans and it's just the same thing day in, day out," she added.

The family moved out of their three-storey house after Neath Port Talbot council issued Emergency Prohibition Orders (EPO) following serious concerns about the stability and safety of homes after a landslip.

On Thursday, a tribunal in Cardiff will hear evidence from three families, including Ms Hopkins', who are appealing their EPOs.

Meanwhile, two of the 10 properties remain occupied, despite repeated warnings from the council that the houses are at risk.

Those residents who dispute their properties are unsafe will be represented at the hearing by a construction engineer, who has been advising the families on their own surveys.

Ms Hopkins believes that despite poor weather and a recent earthquake in the area, her house does not appear to have moved a millimetre.

She added: "I don't want to live in an unsafe house and I had only intended to stay there a couple of years.

"This year I was going to sell it and downsize. That obviously isn't going to happen now. There is no value in that area at all. I basically feel like I'm in a catch-22 situation.

"If I'm told I can go back then I can't sell it - I'm stuck there. I don't know what is going to happen if I'm told I can't go back or where I'm supposed to go to find help."

Neath Port Talbot council said it had offered relevant support to Ms Hopkins, who advised officers in October that she did not want them to find her new alternative accommodation with more bedrooms and was happy to wait to see what the outcome was in relation to Cyfyng Road.

A spokesman said: "It is important to note that the landslip area is largely in private ownership, but the council's main priority throughout has been and continues to be the safety and wellbeing of the affected residents."

He added it would continue to monitor the site and keep residents informed of developments.