Mining and Ground Stability Report Overview

Coal Mining

Coal mining has a long and important role in the industrial history of Great Britain. This continues today with some 16.5 million tonnes of coal produced from deep and opencast mines for the period April 2006 - March 2007. Coal mining records are held and maintained by the Coal Authority on both opencast and deep mining activities.

Not surprisingly, past or current coal mining activity can have an effect on surface property and in coal mining areas a mining search is essential prior to the completion of a house purchase.

Coal mining may affect a property due to subsidence, although under the 1991 Coal Mining Subsidence Act, owners of property damaged by coal mining may be entitled to remedies including repair or depreciation compensation payments. A house may have been built over or near to old coal mineshafts and opencast mining can have an environmental impact. Past and current coal mining activities are quite widespread as this map demonstrates.

Brine Subsidence

In the Cheshire salt field, brine, which forms by the action of natural ground water on deposits of rock salt, has been extracted by pumping for several centuries to provide the raw material for the salt and chemical industries.  As the natural brine forms and pumping takes place, underground cavities are created which may ultimately collapse to produce subsidence of the overlying surface and damage to property.

The Brine Board was constituted and operates under the provisions of the Cheshire Brine Pumping (Compensation for Subsidence) Acts 1952 and 1964.  The Brine Board deals with claims for damage caused by brine pumping within defined Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation District.

How can a Coal Authority Mining Search help?

Mining searches are considered by property professionals to be vital for anyone buying property in any mining area in Britain. The Coal Authority holds and maintains the national coal mining database and our Search Service provides a fast, accurate, property-specific and cost-effective coal & brine mining search service for any property in Scotland, England and Wales. (Also available Ground Stability Search).

A mining report enables you to determine whether a property has been subject to a coal mining related subsidence damage notice or claim since 1984. It also provides information on past, current and proposed underground coal mining activity along with details of any recorded old coal mineshafts and licences for future mining.

The report refers to any current or proposed opencast coal mining operations and whether the property was built over a worked out opencast site. The report also includes details of mine gas emissions and incidents dealt with under the Authority’s emergency Surface Hazard call out procedure.

The report also indicates whether the property is situated within the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation District, whether the property is within a Consultation Area prescribed by the Brine Board under the provisions of Section 38 (1) of the 1952 Act, whether a Notice of Damage has been filed in respect of the property and, if so, whether the claim was accepted and, if so, how the claim was discharged.

You can also obtain this mining search information as part of our more comprehensive ground stability report  - please see below for more information.

To see if your property may be affected by mining activity, please access our  Online Search Service

The Ground Stability Report:

We’re delighted to introduce the Coal Authority & British Geological Survey (BGS) ground stability report. This is the first and only authoritatively sourced and supported ground stability report that satisfies the Law Society’s due diligence requirements under CON29M 2006 (ScotForm 2006 in Scotland).

The home buying public need to avoid the misery of subsidence damage. They need to be aware of the risk of subsidence from man-made causes like coal mining and from natural causes like clay shrinkage and soluble rocks. Ground stability is as relevant as flooding or contaminated land to a home-buyer, and to their lenders and insurers.

Subsidence doesn’t just occur in coal-mining areas; significant problems exist in London and the south-east and in other non-coal mining areas.

This report provides essential information for those assembling Home Information Packs (HIPs) and those considering property purchase and provides property specific information in simple language on the potential hazards related to natural subsidence throughout Great Britain, the impact of mining within the coalfields and the risk and occurrence of damage caused by brine extraction.

Coal mining:

The ground stability report includes detailed information from the Coal Authority identifying the environmental and stability risk arising from any past, current or proposed underground or surface coal mining activity that affects a property. This includes subsidence claims, reported hazard incidents and mine gas emissions.

Natural ground movement:

The British Geological Survey (BGS) provide unique information about natural ground stability within a 50 metre radius of the property. The information in the ground stability report is derived from a variety of sources including detailed digital geological mapping, recorded incidents and, most importantly, input from experienced geologists.

Ground movement occurs naturally and depends on the nature and composition of the underlying geology.  The BGS has identified 6 natural hazards, which may cause ground movement.

Shrink-swell clays – Clay rich soils will shrink and swell with seasonal weather changes causing ground movement.  Movement may also occur from both the planting and removal of trees or leaks from water pipes or drains.

Landslides – These occur in certain conditions and depend on the geology, angle of slop, drainage, rainfall and a change in the drainage pattern.

Soluble rocks – In certain parts of the country some rocks can dissolve from moving water giving rise to cavities and subsidence.  This is most likely in areas where gypsum or salt occur but can be a potential hazard in areas of limestone and chalk.

Compressible and collapsible ground – Information is given on areas prone to compression or collapse when a load is applied, such as the building of a new house or structure.

Running sand – Areas are identified where it is possible for sand to run into a void due to water pressure and cause collapse.

How is the natural subsidence information obtained?

Ground conditions information has been gathered over many years as part of the British Geological Survey’s mapping of the UK, since the establishment of the British Geological Survey in 1835.  Your area may have been geologically mapped several times and the work is continually on-going.

These records, along with millions of borehole logs and site investigation records held in the National Geoscience Data Centre, are the basis for the modern 1:50,000 scale BGS digital geological map of Great Britain.  The natural subsidence information has been assessed by professional geologists and engineers from this collected data.

Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board

The ground stability report details information from the Brine Board identifying properties which have been the subject of claims for subsidence damage caused by brine extraction and those potentially still at risk.

How can I obtain a ground stability report?

Ground stability reports can be ordered at www.groundstability.com