Please support communities opposing opencast in Scotland by participating in this online action: The Scottish Government are currently consulting on new regulation for what they hope will “regulate restoration effectively”. But whilst they consult, Hargreaves are being allowed to mine under even less regulation and oversight than before the collapse of Scottish Coal and ATH Resources. Communities living next to opencast mines in Scotland don’t need another CON-sultation – they need effective action to safeguard their health, well-being and local environment.

It is not acceptable that this crisis is being used as yet another opportunity for yet another mining company to scrape what they can out of communities and the environment whilst taking no responsibility for their actions. It is is time to seek justice for communities living near opencast mines – please respond to the consultation by visiting the Stop Cauldhall Opencast website here: http://stopopencast.org.uk/opencast-moratorium-now/

Consultation ends Thursday 27th February – please tell tell you friends, family and colleagues to take part too!

STOP the OPENCAST between PITTINGTON and WEST RAINTON

Hargreaves Surface Mining Ltd have submitted an application to mine for 514,000 tonnes of coal and up to 83,000 tonnes of fireclay from Field House Farm, north of Low Pittington. The application (no. CMA/4/107) is due before the County Council’s Planning Committee early in 2014. (Probably March 4th)
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RecyCoal, who want to recover 395 thousand tonnes of coal from their site at Hesley Wood Tip, Chapeltown, Sheffield, say that the international coal price is too low to start extraction. This goes to show that new coal developments are not financially viable and there is not the need for coal the industry would like us to believe.
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Local opposition group ‘Save Druridge’ are asking for your help to save the area where they live and which they love from becoming an enormous opencast coal mine. Please sign their petition which is available at http://committees.northumberland.gov.uk/elps/elps.pl?op=FindPetition&type=open
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Sadly on Tuesday 10^th December Nottinghamshire council decided, by a slim majority, in favour of UK Coal in allowing them to dig up 1.275 million tonnes of coal from between Trowell and Cossall villages.

Local residents gave well informed, considered opposition to the application on the basis of health, increased road traffic, vibrations, blasting, amenity loss, noise, UK Coal’s poor track record, the lack of need for the coal and the lack of democracy in the councils system. The council showed that it considered the desires of companies to be more important that those of local individuals. The councils ambivalence to their residents was shown in the cumulation of the hearing when the result of the planning committees decision was not clearly announced leading to great confusion amongst the many local residents in the public gallery who will be adversely affected by the situation.
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