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Struggling mining company UK Coal are desperate to opencast 556,000 tonnes of coal from Bradley, County Durham. They are taking their application to Judicial Review on 5th June at the London High Court.
UK Coal seemed to be going into liquidation voluntarily (according to a report in the Financial Times). Local businesses in the North are no longer providing tyres as they haven’t been paid in months and all diesel needs to be paid for up front, at their Potland Burn site. The company is trying to off load its pensions obligations to the government for Daw Mill colliery and is failing to compensate the family of a miner killed at one of their sites. This doesn’t sound like a company who can be trusted to restore a new site, nor treat their workers and families fairly.
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Last week The Financial Times reported that UK Coal were seeking voluntary liquidation. UK Coal is now disputing this according to the BBC.
It seems apparent that UK Coal are in a bad way financially and perhaps they are discussing deals with competitors, so don’t want word of their plight to put off the fat cats? Or maybe they are setting up a new company to run the profitable aspects of the business before liquidation. Whatever is going on it remains clear that this is not a company to trust with your pension nor to restore open cast sites. Lets hope councils realise this and refuse the applications they have in the pipeline.
Reuters also had this article…
UPDATE 2-UK Coal strives to save mines after crippling fire
Wed May 1, 2013 12:14pm EDT
* UK Coal in talks with creditors to stay solvent
* Declines to confirm FT report of new debt restructuring offer
* UK industry struggling to survive in tighter market
By John McGarrity
LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) – Britain’s largest miner UK Coal said on Wednesday it was in talks with creditors to fend off a collapse that would cost up to 2,000 jobs and force power stations to scramble to cover their fuel needs.
Heading a domestic coal sector that already looks under threat, the miner warned in February that a fire that closed its largest mine, Daw Mill, could harm the viability of the whole company unless it got outside help from government or creditors.
“We remain positive that we have an underlying profitable business,” UK Coal, part owned by Coalfield Resources, said in a statement after the Financial Times reported it had proposed a voluntary liquidation and the handing over of its remaining mines to a new company.
for the rest of the story see here.
Anyone living close to an operational coal site knows that sites are often run differently to the terms agreed at planning. Coal companies have also acted before planning has been granted. Often this can have a serious impact on local people and the environment. For example blasting on sites without consent or removal of more trees or buildings than authorised.
This building was demolished without planning consent at Lodge House Derbyshire.
If you are aware of such breaches occurring please let us know so that we can compile evidence that the companies cannot be trusted to fulfil their planning obligations, giving us fuel to fight future planning applications.
Find further information and the contact form here.
Today UK Coal announced it is planning to go into liquidation. UK Coal Operations, part owned by Coalfield Resources, proposes a voluntary liquidation and the handing over of its remaining mines to a new company.
UK Coal state that the fire which closed their Daw Mill Colliery, lost the company £260m in coal and equipment, causing the situation. This comes shortly after Scottish Coal, the UK’s largest coal mining company, went into liquidation, closing all of its mines on the 19th April 2013. Residents surrounding operating UK Coal sites fear that sites will not be restored, leaving dangerous lagoons, environmental issues and scars on the landscape. There is also concern that UK Coal may be able to continue operating under a different name without honouring their obligations on unprofitable sites. The situation raises questions about the viability of the coal industry in the UK, which offers hope for anti-opencast campaigners including those living close to mines and proposed sites. Read more »
Scottish Coal ask courts to allow them to walk away from opencast sites as Hargreaves directors set up Restoration Trust on Energy Minister’s behalf
Coal Action Scotland media release: for immediate use 24th April 2013
Media contact: media@coalactionscotland.org.uk
Scottish Coal ask courts to allow them to walk away from opencast sites as Hargreaves directors set up Restoration Trust on Energy Minister’s behalf
Campaigners are outraged by what they say is a despicable petition to the Court of Session in Edinburgh by liquidators acting on behalf of Scottish Coal, that seeks permission to walk away from mine sites and prioritise the payment of liquidators over planning obligations. [1]
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