Banks Mining is considering its next move after its plans were refused for an open cast coal mine over 250 agricultural acres at Dewley Hill, near Throckley on the border of Newcastle and Northumberland.
Newcastle City Council unanimously refused permission at a planning committee meeting last Friday (18 December).
The company described the decision as a devastating blow to the local economy and was based on a simplistic view of climate change.
Banks added that it would examine the precise reasons for Newcastle City Council’s decision before taking the most appropriate next steps.
The company was previously refused permission to extend its Bradley open cast mine and to start a new mine at Highthorn in Northumberland.
PROPOSALS
The joint application by Banks and Ibstock Brick for a new surface coal and fireclay mine involves the extraction of 800,000 tonnes of coal, mainly for industrial purposes such as the production of steel and cement.
Some 400,000 tonnes of fireclay would also be extracted to manufacture bricks at Ibstock’s brickworks at Throckley around half a mile from the mine.
Coal is needed to manufacture bricks for new homes and Banks Mining has maintained that the UK must import many of the bricks, and estimated a shortfall in 2017 of 423 million bricks – the equivalent of 49,764 homes.
OPPOSITION
The proposals had received opposition from some residents, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Coal Action Network.
The Northern Echo reported that more than 5,000 objections had been lodged against the Dewley Hill plans, and a petition was signed by more than 19,000 people.
WARNINGS
The Banks Group’s community relations manager Jeannie Raine said that the council had less than six months ago identified Dewley Hill as the only minerals site in the city.
“Given this fact, it is outrageous that, in the height of the worst economic crisis of our generation, its planning committee has decided to dismiss over 200 existing, well paid North East jobs and has not grasped the opportunity to support a £75m investment in the regional economy which would secure local supplies of much-needed minerals at the lowest environmental cost.
“The committee heard but did not listen to the indisputable fact that there will be continued demand for industrial coal and fireclay for use in UK steel, cement and brick manufacture,
and we remain firm in our belief that these minerals should be mined locally in the UK in the safest, most efficient and most environmentally responsible way possible.
“The acute need of the Throckley Brickworks for fireclay could not be met with a lower environmental impact than through the adjacent Dewley Hill site, and its owners Ibstock Brick have clearly repeated how much of a devastating blow its rejection would be in terms of production, local employment and investment.
“The committee members also chose to ignore warnings from both Unite the Union and the Heritage Railway Associations that failing to make use of domestic supplies will force UK industry to drag the coal across the globe while simultaneously significantly increasing global greenhouse gas emissions – and all in the name of a simplistic view on climate change.”
Ms Raine added that the application received support from 1,450 individuals, community groups and organisations.
The Banks Group, based in County Durham, is a family owned business established in 1976. It employs more than 300 people across the North of England and Scotland in developing land for surface coal mining, property and renewable energy.