“When UK Coal was given permission to strip our coal from land at Lounge, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, in 1989, it was on the strict condition that the former coal depot be restored to countyside once the work was finished.

That permission expired in 2004 and still the site has not been restored. But UK Coal isn’t just dilly-dallying over the job: it’s trying to overturn the condition so it can develop the site and make extra profits

After enforcement notices had no effect, Leicestershire County Council has finally threatened UK Coal with legal action and ,unless it sees restoration work start within the next three months, it says it will seek a court order to force the greening of the area – still technically a greenfield site. Despite this, the mining company still boasts of its plan for a 79,000sq m specialist distribution warehouse to be developed in a joint venture with logistics firm Gazeley Plc.

Residents near another potential opencast site at the former Minorca Colliery just down the road in Measham fear the same thing will happen to them if UK Coal are allowed to profit by ruining greenfield sites it can sell to developers afterwards. Although no application has been submitted, the company has mooted plans for opencast operations at Minorca

A dossier prepared by the Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG) says

“Local communities are learning about the Use UK Coal makes of the planning system in its attempts to convert the temporary use of land which is allowed for mineral extraction purposes to its permanent use as land suitable for a range of developments”

For instance, in 2001 UK coal was given permission to opencast at Cutacre in Bolton, on condition that it turned the site into a country park once the work was finished. Yet now UK coal’s operations are complete, what’s on the cards for the site? An industrial park! Bolton Council is keen to bring in extra jobs, but plenty of locals recall how the restoration conditions, imposed after a public inquiry, went some way to placate those who fiercely fought the mining proposal in the first place”