Neath Port Talbot Council’s decision to evacuate four people from their homes in Ystalyfera following a series of landslides has been upheld unanimously by a Residential Property Tribunal.

The four, all of Cyfyng Road, Pantteg, Ystalyfera, have had their appeals against Neath Port Talbot Council’s decision to impose Emergency Prohibition Orders (EPOs) on them in August 2017 dismissed unanimously by the Cardiff based panel.

The authority used the EPOs after being told by independent engineering and geological consultants Earth Science Partnership (ESP) there was “an immediate danger to life” concerning ten properties in the Cyfyng Road area – including the appellants’ homes.

Other occupiers of homes at Cyfyng Road who were served with the EPOs in August 2017 have since been relocated and the authority has also helped re-home one of the appellants.

The leader of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Councillor Rob Jones said: “We are pleased the authority’s decision to re-locate residents of privately owned homes in Cyfyng Road due to urgent safety concerns has now been upheld by an independent tribunal.

“The authority must now consider how to help the appellants – particularly those who have remained living at Cyfyng Road during the appeals process.”

Councillor Jones added the next step would now be to enter into dialogue with the appellants.

Dozens of landslips have been recorded in the Pantteg landslip system south west of Ystalyfera in the Swansea Valley since earliest records began but there are likely to have been far more which went un-recorded.

Experts say the landslips are largely related to local geology and steep slopes in but it is also likely heavy rainfall is linked to the events.

The three appeals (one was a joint appeal) related to three properties, 86 and 84 Cyfyng Rd and the third property 90/92 Cyfyng Rd which was merged into one property in 2001.

The properties, built on a slope, were affected by three recent landslips, in February, March and April 2017 during which several hundred tonnes of earth moved and which, according to the panel, meant “the slope which was already very steep became even steeper”.

The panel members said Neath Port Talbot Council’s expert evidence showed none of the appeal properties were founded on solid rock and all agreed the authority had shown there was a risk to residents from landslips.

There was a further landslip in Pantteg in February of this year when 10 tonnes of earth moved down a steep embankment near Pantteg Chapel.

An updated Hazard Risk Map has been developed by ESP using aerial drones fitted with laser scanners accurately establishing the risk to various residential properties in the Pantteg area.

The council has also been carrying out tree and vegetation clearance, drainage work and the sinking of boreholes and trial pits to assess conditions in the landslip area on what is mostly private land.

Now, a programme of home inspections sited in “high and very high” risk areas on the updated risk and hazard map is underway.

The Welsh Government has given £800,000 to help the authority deal with the issue but costs have spiralled well above that figure.