West Cumbria Mining proposes 'Woodhouse Colliery', a 50-year mine near Whitehaven in Cumbria which would produce 2.78 million tonnes of coking coal a year. The large scale underground and under-sea mine would generate over 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year producing coking coal with over 85% being exported to European steel works.
There are two main campaigns to stop Woodhouse Colliery
South Lakes Action on Climate Change (Towards Transition) undertake a range of climate-related activities in the South Lakes Area. They bring planning expertise to the campaign to stop Whitehaven, and have useful resources on their website:
Website: https://slacc.org.uk/campaigns/cumbria-coal-mine/
Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole is run by Radiation-free Lakeland, focussing on the site's proximity to Sellafield nuclear plant and on local environmental impacts.
Website: https://keepcumbriancoalinthehole.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stopthecumbriancoal/
While the application was approved in 2019 and again in October 2020 by Cumbria County Council, it is now going to Public Inquiry in September 2021. Following the public inquiry the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, currently Robert Jenrick, will decide the application.
Coal Action Network investigated the Turkish coal industry in 2024. This article looks at our findings and the links between Turkish coal, air pollution, Russia’s war and decarbonisation.
Former steelworker, Pat Carr, spoke to Anne Harris from Coal Action Network about the financial support offered to workers when the Consett steelworks closed in 1980, and they discussed what can be done better, in workplaces like Scunthorpe steelworks. (Article published in Canary magazine)
The proposed West Cumbria Coal mine lost its planning permission in September 2024. Since then its application to get a full coal mining license was refused by the Coal Authority, another nail in the coffin of the proposed coking coal mine.
Bryn Bach Coal Ltd is the coal mining company that operates the Glan Lash opencast coal mine, which has been dormant since planning permission expired in 2019. In 2018, it applied for an extension which was unanimously rejected by planning councillors in 2023. Undeterred, Bryn Bach Coal Ltd is trying again! This time with a slightly smaller extension of some 85,000 tonnes rather than 95,000 tonnes…
Former steelworker, Pat Carr, speaks to Anne Harris from Coal Action Network about the financial support offered to workers when the Consett steelworks closed in 1980.
In May 2023, Coal Action Network wrote to the Climate Change, Energy, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) of the Welsh Senedd, informing the Committee of the ongoing illegal coal mining at Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, and the Council and Welsh Government’s refusal to use their enforcement powers to prevent the daily extraction of over 1,000 tonnes of coal…
The end of coal power in the UK – how we got here, what’s still needed? Smoke filled the sky across the industrial parts of the UK, as coal powered the industrial revolution. First coal brought prosperity and progress, but over decades the smoke stacks…
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Coal powered Britain’s industrial and economic expansion during its Industrial Revolution. The abundance of coal discovered in Britain was a key factor that enabled the country’s early industrialisation, developing technologies and industries unfeasible elsewhere due to the lack of cheap energy sources…
I am appalled to hear that the company is to acquire steam locomotives to haul coal from the mine. The reason for this is to avoid using diesel fuel!
I volunteer in local groups for FoE, Greenpeace and XR in Northants- I’m shocked that we have not been called to help you with this key campaign- key to COP26 etc. Sorry to hear it has been voted for by local gov-
I gather from an article in the Ecologist you now ail to challenge through judicial review but need funds-
We should campaign here and across the whole country to support you in this-
I’ll try and get the ball rolling- sorry to join so late- didn’t hear about it-
How do you think/feel we can most help?