Villagers raise fears over opencast mining plans

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VILLAGES will suffer noise, dirt and danger if plans for the opencast mining of two million tonnes of coal are approved.

Archaeologists will start digging the site of a potential coal mine to unearth its history as part of an environmental assessment.

A series of shallow trenches will be dug in the next few weeks on land near Whittonstall, north of Consett, County Durham, to find evidence of a history of cultural importance.

UK Coal says it will submit a planning application to carry out the coal extraction, just over the border with County Durham.

But there are fears of the scheme’s impact on villages in Derwentside that could be on the route of lorries going to and from the site.

The company says it is likely to submit an application to work the site, which would be called Hoodsclose, by the end of the year and that if the scheme is approved it would create at least 50 jobs for about seven years.

The presence of coal reserves was proved in the Seventies by a drilling programme by the then National Coal Board (NCB). A subsequent application by the NCB to extract up to 3.5 million tonnes from the Whittonstall site was refused in 1978.

Durham County councillor for Leadgate and Medomsley, Watts Stelling, has voiced his opposition to the scheme because of its impact on his constituents.

Councillor Stelling, a member of the Derwentside Independents group, said: “My concern is that the villages will have coal wagons trundling along country roads through Ebchester, Low Westwood, Hamsterley Colliery, Hamsterley Mill, Leadgate, Lanchester, etc, and that the noise, dirt and danger would be intolerable.

“This part of County Durham already has the heavy lorries to and from Broadoak Quarry not far from the proposed opencast site.

“Enough is enough.

Northumberland County Council should look for any proposed traffic movements to go through their county for a change.’’ UK Coal project manager Richard Cory said: “The scaled-down proposals will take account of the reasons the larger previous scheme was rejected and will include a wide range of measures to protect surrounding communities and the environment.

“Coal that can be recovered from Hoodsclose in an environmentally acceptable way will displace imports, create well-paid jobs and provide a boost for the local and regional economy.”

From: The Northern Echo

Bid to rework Butterwell opencast site

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BRITAIN’S biggest coal company is bidding to resurrect opencast mining operations in a swathe of Northumberland countryside which was extensively dug up for more than 15 years.

UK Coal wants to extract a million tonnes of coal and 200,000 tonnes of fireclay from 250 acres of land at Butterwell, north of Morpeth – where Europe’s largest opencast mine was worked from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. Butterwell Disposal Point

The scheme would involve the removal and reclamation of the disused Butterwell Disposal Point, where coal from local sites was stocked and then loaded onto trains for delivery to customers.

Two years ago, sites at Butterwell and Steadsburn, near Widdrington, were earmarked by county planning officials as the only two areas left in Northumberland where opencast mining would be acceptable in the future.

Since then the situation has changed dramatically, with attempts to put the shackles on surface mining operations thwarted by Government decisions and industry objections.

In 2007, ministers granted permission to the Banks Group for a huge mine at Shotton near Cramlington – despite it having been rejected by the county council and the site lying in an official opencast constraint area.

That in turn forced county councillors to also approve UK Coal’s bid to opencast at Potland Burn near Ashington, despite that site also being in its constraint area.

UK Coal says the Butterwell site will be worked over four and a half years, generate up to 84 jobs, remove the former disposal point complex and coal stocking yards and restore the area to agriculture.

The site is located between the villages of Longhirst and Linton, but UK Coal says its operations will not cause problems of noise or dust. Yesterday, county councillor Milburn Douglas, whose ward includes the Linton area, said he expects some local opposition to the plan. “This area of Northumberland has been opencasted for 50 to 60 years and I am sure some local people will say enough is enough.

“We have recently had giant wind turbines imposed on us at Lynemouth and now it looks like we are going back to the old days of opencast mining at Butterwell. It is nearby communities that suffer from opencasting and I hope the county council will examine this scheme very carefully.”

UK Coal spokesman Stuart Oliver said a planning application will be submitted soon. “We held a public exhibition on Wednesday, which was attended by about 50 people who seemed to understand the need for this coal. There were issues about transport and site restoration and we will look to address those.”

From journal live

Objections grow to opencast mine

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Around 40 letters objecting to plans for an opencast coal mine at Halton Lea Gate have been lodged with Northumberland County Council.

And the county is inviting more people to express their views about the controversial scheme submitted by HM Project Development.

Consideration of the application was adjourned at this month’s meeting of the county planning committee, so that councillors could visit the site themselves.

And the county will host a public meeting in the area before Christmas prior to making a final decision on the bid to extract 140,000 tonnes of high quality coal from the site over a three and a half year period.

Seven 25-tonne heavy goods vehicles will access the site every day.

However, local residents believe the scheme will have a devastating impact on their lives and fear the effect the opencast mine will have on the local environment.

County councillor Ian Hutchinson, who lives in Whitfield, told a packed emergency meeting of Hartleyburn Parish Council there had been overwhelming opposition to the scheme.

The parish council decided to object on numerous grounds, including the increase in heavy goods vehicles driving to and from the village each day, and the threat to the area’s wildlife.

It was also agreed that members of the public should write individual letters of objection to the county council, as they felt petitions and template letters had no effect on officers whatsoever.

From the Hexham Courant

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