To the Coal Action Network website, which will be kept up-to-date with recent news from campaigns and the industry. Have a look at The Coal Maps – mapping coal across the UK, contacts page for campaigns and groups active on coal, useful resources for campaign groups, arguments against new coal, upcoming events and links to information and other issues. You can get in touch to contribute updates and information and sign up to the CAN email list.
Opencast coal mining in the Douglas Valley is about the ruling class destroying communities for their own financial gain. Its about ecological destruction on a massive scale for capitalism’s unquenchable thirst for cheap energy. Its about absentee fat-cat land-lords making millions off land that shouldn’t be theirs. Its about morally corrupt local (and national) government putting profit before people. Join us 12-18 July in the Douglas Valley, South Lanarkshire, to build on 20 years of community struggle and four years of direct action against the UK’s biggest opencast mining company. It’s time to Take Back the Land!
Despite plans for an opencast mine in the Pont Valley having been rejected by Durham County Council twice, and then rejected again by the planning inspector in February after a 3 week public inquiry following an appeal, UK Coal have submitted a legal challenge to the latest decision at the High Court of Justice in Leeds. Residents of Dipton and the surrounding area have been fighting plans for an opencast mine at the Bradley site for over 10 years and will no doubt be continuing their struggle against UK Coal, a company notorious for harming communities and the environment. Watch this space for more information.
The Pont Valley Network and Durham County Council have successfully prevented UK Coal mining half a million tonnes of Coal from Bradley when UK Coal appealed the decision made last year.
The inspectors report was published on Thursday 23rd February which rejects the appeal, by UK Coal. Durham County Council unanimously rejected the application a year ago. The appeal took three weeks and ended in November last year. There were excellent contributions from the council’s speakers and a large number of people from the local community.
Coal Action News:
Download Coal Action Scotland’s ecological submission against Glentaggart East and the destruction of peat bogs here. Scottish Coal call it “degraded” and planned to dig it up, store it in a mound for a few years and put it back miraculously better than it was. But now (to appease the easily-swayed consultees) they propose to mine around Glentaggart East’s two main areas of blanket bog – protected by “impermeable bunds” – in the hope that adjacent mining operations won’t damage it, and also in the hope that we believe they’re not just going to mine it later anyway! Stopping an opencast mine at Glentaggart East isn’t just about leaving the coal in the ground, its also about stopping the destruction of a major carbon sink and the emission of over 2 million tonnes of CO2 just from peat removal.
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2797
After Chief Exec Don Nicolson recently quit Scottish Coal, it’s time for Colin Ortlepp, Planning Director for Scottish Coal, to follow suit. Scottish Coal is a house of cards and its about time it came tumbling down, with its directors taking responsibility for it. Colin Ortlepp is the face of Scottish Coal’s planning for new mines, and has consistently lied to communities across Scotland, and even to Council employees. In South Lanarkshire, he’s lied about extensions to mines, how long they would operate for and haulage routes that would be used. He even lied outright to Roger Dick, Minerals Enforcement Officer for South Lanarkshire Council, about sending HGVs laden with coal through Douglas and Glespin, something he said wouldn’t happen. He’s the driving force behind the “Forward Strategy” in the Douglas Valley, pushing through more mines such as Glentaggart East and extensions such as Broken Cross North East. Come on Colin, you’re next to go!
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2794
In what the Scotsman has described as a “fresh blow” for the UK’s largest open cast mining company, Chief Executive Don Nicolson walked out on Scottish Coal yesterday, leaving the company “a rudderless ship”. We can only speculate how many more blows the company can take – Don makes 5 senior directors to have left in 13 months, and with two failed flotation attempts of the company, a 90% profits slump, and now a new report from the Environment Agency saying that Scottish Coal is one of the highest producers of CO2 in the industry, producing twice as much per tonne as UK Coal – surely the fatal blow that slays the beast will come soon?
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=2789
CONCH NEWS ALERT : North Ayrshire Council Say NO
At a meeting on Wednesday, lasting less than 90 minutes, North Ayrshire Councillors voted unanimously to object to Ayrshire Power’s plans for a dirty coal-station at Hunterston. Citing concerns over health, environment and climate change the councilors were also critical of major gaps in information provided by Ayrshire Power and their failure to have credible plans to capture 100% of carbon emissions from the outset. The council also highlighted the need for an independent health impact assessment; emphasised that a public inquiry was needed given the high level of objections and also disputed that the plans were compatible with the Scottish Governments National Planning Framework.
Read more »
