Mine ‘would kill town’s image’
Telford’s image as a modern, clean town, surrounded by countryside, would be wrecked by an opencast coal mine in an area of outstanding natural beauty, it was claimed today.
Planning expert Dr Malcolm Hockaday said residents’ lives would be spoilt by noise, dust and traffic from excavations visible from The Wrekin.
And he accused UK Coal of failing to prove any exceptional need to justify digging up a nationally important beauty spot and wildlife haven.
He was speaking at a public inquiry into UK Coal’s application to extract 900,000 tonnes of coal from a site in Huntington Lane over three years.
The coal, largely destined for Ironbridge Power Station, would come from two craters between Little Wenlock and New Works, linked by a “haul road” for trucks over a scheduled ancient monument.
UK Coal says 92 jobs would be created while Telford’s economy would be boosted by the site’s £13 million annual turnover.
It claims the mine is needed to cut Britain’s reliance on imported coal and reduce the carbon footprint of carrying coal thousands of miles from Siberia.
Telford & Wrekin Council, which is leading the opposition, today called its main witness, Cardiff-based consultant Dr Hockaday, a fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
He said: “Telford’s success has been based on its new identity as a modern and clean town, lying within attractive green surroundings.
“The legacy of deep mining and associated industry has now all but disappeared.”
The council’s efforts to shed Telford’s mining past and move into the 21st century would be harmed by a new mine, he claimed.
Dr Hockaday said that the proposed site, which is partly in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, was a nationally important buffer between Telford and the countryside.
It was treasured as a gateway to The Wrekin.
Its planning status was the same as a national park and Government policy banned opencast mines in such areas except in “exceptional” circumstances, he said.
The inquiry continues.
From the Shropshire Star\
