Banks Mining said it would not challenge the Government’s decision to reject its plans for a surface coal mine in Highthorn, Northumberland but will pursue its proposed Dewley Hill mine, west of Newcastle.
The company’s Dewley Hill application is expected to be discussed by the City Council’s planning committee before the end of the 2020.
In September, the Secretary of State refused Banks’s application for an open cast mine near Druridge Bay, Highthorn because it would have had an “adverse impact on landscape character of substantial significance.” (bit.ly/3mwifvE)
The decision came more than two and a half years after an independent, government-appointed planning inspector recommended that the scheme be approved.
Banks Mining said that the Highthorn mine would have resulted in some 100 jobs, nearly £100 million investment into the Northumberland economy, and keep a total of £120m within the UK economy by avoiding imports of three million tonnes of coal. The project would have also resulted in supply chain contracts worth a total of £48m for local businesses.
Executive director Gavin Styles, said today that it had been a difficult decision for the company as there would be “substantial” domestic demand for years to come, and that the Secretary of State’s decision on Highthorn had been “misguided”. (bit.ly/3kGacvA)
“In order to build back better, we need something to build with, ” added Mr Styles.
“We remain firm in our conviction that, while British industry still needs essential minerals like coal, fireclay and brickshale, they should be mined in the UK in the most environmentally responsible way possible.
“However, having carefully considered the Secretary of State’s purely political and deeply disappointing decision to reject our Highthorn planning application, we have concluded that issuing a challenge to it would not be the right course of action.
“We will continue to pursue the proposed Dewley Hill surface mine to the west of Newcastle, which will sustainably support the steel and brickmaking industries with high-quality locally-sourced minerals.”
Mr Styles added that the jobs were needed in the North East especially due to the effects of the pandemic.
The application is from Banks and Ibstock Brick for a new surface coal and fireclay mine at Dewley Hill, on the border of Newcastle and Northumberland.
The proposals are to extract 800,000 tonnes of coal, most of which would be used for industrial purposes such as the production of steel and cement.
Some 400,000 tonnes of fireclay will also be extracted to manufacture bricks at Ibstock’s brickworks at Throckley, around half a mile from the mine.
The scheme would last for three and a half years from the start of operations in 2021 to complete restoration of the site.