Opencast campaign to continue with open meeting

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CAMPAIGNERS are ready to grill county council chiefs over a proposed opencast mine in Measham.

The Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG) is hoping to get answers to 10 questions at a meeting tomorrow night.

UK Coal wants to extract 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of fire clay off Gallows Lane.

Members of the development control and regulatory board at Leicestershire County Council, which will make the final decision on the plans, will be at the meeting. MOPG members say they plan to ask questions about UK Coal’s record when it comes to restoring sites, light pollution, the use of buffer zones, the company’s claims about job prospects, and traffic issues.

MOPG chairman Steve Leary said: “This is the only chance people will have to voice their objections directly to those members of the development control and regulatory board.

“It is very important that as many people as possible who are against UK Coal’s proposal attend this meeting. It is regrettable that UK Coal will not formally be represented at the meeting, as there are questions we would have liked to have put which only they can answer, on issues such as employment, restoration of the Ashby Canal and the destination of the fireclay.

“However we now understand that Measham Parish Council is to arrange a public meeting on this application to which UK Coal will be invited.” The meeting will be held from 7pm at St Laurence’s Church Hall, in High Street, Measham.

From: Burton Mail

‘We can undermine opencast plans’

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OPENCAST mine protesters say they are ʻincreasingly confidentʼ they can undermine crucial areas of a controversial planning application.

The research team assisting Measham’s Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG) believe they have a case that can be submitted to Leicestershire County Council demonstrating ‘flaws’ in UK Coal’s bid to extract 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of fire clay off Gallows Lane.

They say their claims can be backed after The Environment Agency requested a new set of readings be undertaken on the state of the ground water on the site as they are not happy with the evidence contained in the submission document on this issue.

Campaigners say they are also ‘increasingly aware of the devices that UK Coal has used in submitting a document which claims to include ‘independent’ and ‘objective’ reports which, on closer reading, prove to be biased’ to show the company has the full support of Government planning guidance.

On several occasions in its application, UK Coal claims that Government guidance should give priority to ‘proposals which will bring about environmental improvements for example, by the restoration of previously derelict areas or by the stabilisation of unstable ground’.

In one short section of the submission document, the Socio Economic Assessment, which is just 18 pages long, the claim that the Minorca site (pictured above) has derelict land which will be restored as part of the need to work the coal, and that the ground is unstable, is made twice.

However, protesters contest this, saying UK Coal wants to ‘rip up a green field site’ and that the ground is not unstable.

MOPG chairman Steve Leary said: “This is not the only example of misleading statements contained in this small 18-page section.

“They draw on inappropriate evidence when comparing urban and sub urban brown field sites with a greenfield site, they exaggerate the economic benefits to the local economy, and there are two further deliberately misleadingly interpretations of Government guidance – all within just 18 pages.

“This is a large document, about 1,500 pages long. We are confident that we will be able to draw on many further examples of how UK Coal has used the ‘evidence’ it has submitted to make claims that on closer examination cannot be substantiated.” A public meeting, organised by Leicestershire County Council, will be held at St Laurence’s Church Hall, in High Street, Measham, from 7pm on Thursday, September 17. Concerned residents are invited to attend.

From: Burton Mail

Opencast mine protest takes to the streets

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CAMPAIGNERS hoping to stave off the threat of an opencast mine near their homes are set to take their fight to the streets of Measham.

UK Coal wants to extract 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of fire clay at the Minorca site, off Gallows Lane.

Protesters are hoping to get their message across to residents in an unconventional manner prior to three crucial meetings being held this month.

A soapbox will be situated at the village’s Mary’s Corner between 10am and noon on Saturdays, September 5 and 12.

This will mark the beginning of series of events where the Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG) will be encouraging people to join its campaign.

Chairman Steve Leary said: “With three important meetings coming up that will help to decide the future local character of the area.It is crucial for MOPG to get its message out that this opencast mine proposal, which very few people actually want, can be stopped.

“This is why we are taking to the streets, so that we can get our message across and encourage more people to support our campaign and help stop this proposal.” To aid the cause of protesters, a campaign meeting will be held in St Laurence’s Church Hall, in High Street, Measham, from 7.30pm to 9.30pm on Monday, September 7.

Leaflet drops will be organised, advice will be provided on writing objection letters, lobbying activities will be organised and fund raising ideas discussed.

Mr Leary said: “Anyone interested in stopping these plans can just drop in to see how they can help.” Campaigners hope the event will help prepare protesters for the trio of important meetings.

Leicestershire County and Rutland Primary Care Trust members are set to discuss the group’s request for a Health Impact Assessment to be undertaken to assess potential risks to residents at its headquarters in Enderby, Leicester, at 2pm on Thursday, September 10.

A second meeting, being held at 7pm on the same day at St Laurence’s Church Hall, will see Measham Parish Council discussing the need for a 500-metre buffer zone and the potential for organising a debate between campaigners and UK Coal on the proposals.

Residents are also being encouraged to attend a public meeting, organised by Leicestershire County Council, from 7pm at the church hall on Thursday, September 17.

From: Burton Mail

Opencast blast fears prompt health calls

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THE threat of blasting at a proposed opencast site has increased the need for a health impact assessment (HIA) to be undertaken, campaigners say.

UK Coal is seeking permission to carry out the activity at the proposed 321-acre Minorca Opencast site off Gallows Lane, in Measham, as it hopes to gain approval to recover 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of fireclay.

The Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG) is now demanding that a HIA is carried out prior to UK Coal’s application being considered by Leicestershire County Council.

Although such a requirement is not part of the planning process in England, it is in Wales for an application of this size. In addition, in Wales and Scotland there is a 500m buffer zone requirement between areas of settlement and an opencast site.

MOPG has now vowed to write to parish councils in Measham, Swepstone, Packington and Snarestone to join the group and the Measham Medical Unit in support of the request for a HIA, which has already been made to Leicestershire and Rutland Primary Health Care Trust.

Group chairman Steve Leary said: “UK Coal, as we have already indicated, is a company whoich will seek to use the planning system to its advantage. In this case, local people are being wooed by the prospect of £150,000 being offered to benefit the community amongst other things, if it does get planning permission.

“HIAs cost money. The first one undertaken in England for an opencast mine application was for UK Coal’s Huntington Lane application near Telford, earlier this year, and cost Telford and Wrekin Council approximately £80,000 after UK Coal refused to pay.

“MOPG argues that UK Coal has a duty to honour its industry’s Code of Practice and use some of the £150,000 earmarked for community benefits on reassuring local people that there are no health and safety risks attached to their application to mine at Minorca, by offering to fund a HIA now. Surely, assessing the health and safety risks that local residents would be exposed to if the application went ahead is more valuable than the provision of a new community amenity at some unspecified date in the future.”

A letter from Minorca project manager Anton Fix to Leicestershire County Council, which has been viewed by The Mail, tries to play down concerns.

It says: “The proposal has been carefully planned to incorporate measures to mitigate the short term negative impacts of the operational phase and to enhance the positive benefits to be derived from the restoration scheme.”

The letter also states up to 50 full time jobs could be created by the scheme.

From: Burton Mail

MP confirms opposition to opencast

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MEASHAM would struggle to escape from the doom and gloom of the recession if an opencast mine was given the go-ahead, it has been claimed.

North West Leicestershire MP David Taylor made the gloomy prediction during a protest meeting against UK Coal’s bid to extract 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of clay from the Minorca site off Gallows Lane.

Mr Taylor told the meeting, attended by more than 200 residents, that protesters would need to prove that the mine would have a negative impact on the environment, health and safety as well as the area’s economic and social outlook.

He said noise and dust, along with the loss of flora and fauna, would provide ‘a strong case’ against development on environmental grounds.

Dust and additional traffic movements will form the backbone of the health and safety argument, the long term opponent of opencast mining claimed.

On the economy, he said: “One of the significant characters of the area was the low levels of unemployment in North West Leicestershire and Leicestershire. They have doubled in the last 18 months due to the recession.

“If we continue to have opencasting, it will be most environmentally despoiling and will be a significant negative for future economic recovery and growth.

“I think enough is enough in terms of opencasting in this area.”

Mr Taylor launched a rallying call, saying that with ‘tenacity, enthusiasm, commitment and professionalism’, the battle could be won. He and those opposed to the plans are feeling ‘mildly optimistic’ that Leicestershire County Council will reject the application.

Should that happen, it is expected UK Coal will appeal the decision, and an inquiry would be held in summer 2010.

Packington Parish Council chairman Chris Miles warned: “It is going to be a long and hard battle.” Fears were raised at the meeting not just about extraction, but what would happen to the site once mining had been completed.

MOPG chairman Steve Leary said: “Whilst the coal is in the ground the land is safe from development. Once the coal is out then the genie is out of the bottle.

“In the medium to long-term, this might be an attractive site for development and all the area east of the current limit of Measham, along Leicester Road-Swepstone Road down to Bosworth Road, becomes unprotected.” UK Coal is currently operating the Long Moor opencast site in Ravenstone, just four miles away from Measham.

Ravenstone Parish councillor Ian Mellor said that Leicestershire County Council has a policy that only one opencast mine should operate in defined areas.

However, Mr Taylor said he believes the company would finish at Long Moor before moving to Measham to avoid running into difficulties.

From: Burton Mail

‘Five years’ disruption for 65 days of coal’

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THE proposed opencast mine in Measham will cause five years of disruption for just 65 days’ worth of energy production, critics claim.

UK Coal wants to extract 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of clay from the Minorca site off Gallows Lane.

Campaigners are angry that the area is being treated as a ‘giant coal bunker’ and believe the proposed output does not make up for the ‘stress and anguish’ which could be caused.

The bulk of the coal at the proposed mine would be used at Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, in Nottinghamshire.

Research by the Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG) shows that on full-burn Ratcliffe uses 812 tonnes of coal in 60 minutes — the equivalent of 19,488 tonnes every 24 hours.

A total of 1,266,720 tonnes would take 65 days to burn, more than Minorca is expected to produce in its proposed lifespan of three years and three months.

Campaigners say this is not a ‘fair exchange’.

MOPG chairman Steve Leary, of Greenfield Road, Measham, said: “We hope tomorrow to persuade more people that this area cannot continue to be treated as a giant coal bunker.

“UK Coal seem to have the attitude that people ought to be grateful that at regular intervals they want to just pop along and extract thousands of tonnes of coal from giant holes in the ground, as if they are just ‘borrowing’ the land.

“Such a view does not take account of the stress, fear, anguish and anger that such an attitude creates among the communities who find themselves constantly in danger of being doubly disrupted by firstly have to fight a campaign like this to oppose the application and, if we are unsuccessful, living with the polluting consequences and extra traffic caused by the mining.” The UK Electrical Supply Industry burned 53 million tonnes of coal last year.

Minorca’s monthly extraction rate will be less than 385,000 tonnes a year, meaning the site would contribute just 0.72 per cent of the annual coal consumption in the UK.

Mr Leary said: “To realise that we are being asked to do this for the benefit of the UK as a whole and then realise how little a difference it will make does not make sense.

“To realise that in the end this is about providing annually an additional 0.7 per cent of our annual generating coal supply for just over three years and 65 days of additional coal burn for Ratcliffe is adding insult to an injury.” A protest meeting is being held tonight at 7.30pm at St Laurence’s Church Hall, in High Street, Measham.

From: Burton Mail