Public inquiry into West Cumbria coking coal mine begins
Local MP's are backing the plans, but environmentalists are worried about the impact it will have
Last updated 7th Sep 2021
A public inquiry, looking into the proposed coking coal mine in Copeland is set to begin today.
We've been speaking to Copeland MP Trudy Harrison who's in favour of the mine, siting the jobs it will create and the UK Government's former envoy on Climate Change John Ashton who wants the plans thrown out:
Some 80 organisations, including Greenpeace and The Wildlife Trusts, signed the letter to the Prime Minister, calling for the inquiry, in which they described the "mystifying'' disbelief that the Government had not intervened over the approval of plans for the mine in Whitehaven.
The new facility, which will be used to extract coking coal for steel production, has been granted planning permission by Cumbria County Council.
In a letter coordinated by Greenpeace and countryside charity CPRE, the environmental groups said the UK is due to play host to the international Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
They said:
"Given that our credibility, as host of the largest global climate talks since the signing of the Paris Agreement is at stake, it is mystifying that the government has decided not to intervene in the approval of the UK's first deep coal mine in 30 years.
While they acknowledged new jobs needed to be created, the signatories said investment in green energy would "provide significantly more than the 500 jobs promised by the new mine.''
Local MP's Trudy Harrison (Copeland) and Mark Jenkinson (Workington) have both been outspoken in their support of the mine which is sad to create hundreds of badly needed jobs.
They say the coking coal that would be produced is the only fuel that can be used to createt steel, which we need to meet our targets of Net Zero by 2050.
The inquiry is expected to last 4 weeks.
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