Searches User Guide: CON29M - coal mining
The CON29M is a form set out by the Law Society to provide information on past, present and future underground and surface coal mining activity for individual properties or sites in England and Wales. It is requested by solicitors on behalf of their clients as part of the conveyancing searches purchased in a coal mining or past coal mining area.
The Groundsure CON29M report provides an overall assessment on risk to property from coal mining hazards alongside responses to The Law Society CON29M Coal Mining search enquiries. The CON29M questions and format are used here with permission of The Law Society, and the report is prepared in accordance with the Law Society CON29M (2018) Guidance Notes. The overall assessment and individual question responses have been produced using official Coal Authority data and the expert interpretation of Groundsure.
Past underground coal mining
This section provides information on past underground coal mining that may affect the property. Information is provided on the number of coal seams worked, the depth and the date of last working. Workings within 30 metres of surface are deemed to be shallow and are flagged for advisory information.
Information is also provided on ‘indicated’ coal workings, where The Coal Authority believe that coal may have been worked in an area, but for which no plan or survey of workings is available.
Present underground coal mining
This section identifies if the property lies within a current/valid licence area for the extraction of coal.
Future underground coal mining
This section looks at licence areas where The Coal Authority is considering granting a licence for the extraction of coal.
Shafts and adits (mine entries)
Mine entries within 20 metres of the property that are reported as part of Law Society guidance. These include two types of mine entry:
- Shafts: vertical mine entries that can range from a few metres to hundreds of metres depth.
- Adits: near horizontal mine entries that allow people/material to walk into mine workings.
Coal mining geology
Geological disturbance (faults, fissures or breaklines) that have caused damage at surface as a result of coal mining.
- Fault: A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other.
- Fissure: A fissure is a fracture or crack in rock along which there is a distinct separation.
- Breakline: A line of weakness at the surface.
These geological features are naturally occurring, however coal extraction can cause faults and fissures to become active and move, causing vertical displacement. The result at the surface can be a linear band of subsidence.
Present opencast coal mining
Opencast coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the surface in the form of a large quarry or pit. This section returns a result if the property is within 200 metres of the boundary of an opencast site from which coal is presently being removed by opencast methods.
Future opencast coal mining
This section identifies whether the property is within 800 metres of an area for which a licence to remove coal by opencast methods has been granted, or the property is within 800 metres of an area for which The Coal Authority is determining whether to grant a licence to remove coal by opencast methods.
Coal mining subsidence claims
This section identifies coal mining subsidence claims within 50m of the property, whether the claim was accepted, rejected or still being determined, if the claim was discharged, if there is a ‘Stop Notice’ at the property or any requests to execute preventative works before coal was extracted under Section 33 of the Coal Mining Subsidence Act.
It is important to note for this section that Subsidence Claims are only recorded from 1994 and the formation of The Coal Authority. Claims from before this date are not included.
Additional details of claims can be requested, from The Coal Authority but only by ordering a Subsidence Claims History report on the property with the claim.
Mine gas emissions
These are specific events where harmful gases typically found in coal mines find a way to the surface, and action has been required by The Coal Authority to mitigate the effects of the mine gas emission. Gases released from coal mines can include:
- Flammable: methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen
- Suffocating: carbon dioxide, nitrogen and methane
- Toxic: nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulphide
It is important to note for this section that mine gas emissions are only recorded from 1994 and the formation of The Coal Authority. Emissions from before this date are not included.
Additional details of emissions can be requested from The Coal Authority by ordering a Mine Gas Emission Report.
Emergency Call Out Incidents
Emergency Call Out Surface Hazard Incidents are where The Coal Authority have been called to a property following a ‘surface hazard’ a collapsed mine shaft for example, where there is imminent peril to people or property.
It is important to note for this section that Emergency Call Out Incidents are only recorded from 1994 and the formation of The Coal Authority. Incidents from before this date are not included. Additional details of surface hazard incidents can be requested from The Coal Authority by ordering a Surface Hazard Incident Report.
Data update schedule: Weekly
This applies to all of the above data