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New opencast coal mine for Northumberland?
Northumberland County Council’s planning committee has backed plans submitted by Banks Mining for a new surface – opencast – coal mine to be developed at Druridge Bay on the Northumberland coast. The company will invest around £120mn in the Highthorn project, which will be located to the south east of the village of Widdrington, and is looking to provide at least 100 skilled jobs through the surface mine.
Durham-headquartered Banks Mining is already one of Northumberland’s biggest private sector employers, employing more than 200 people at its existing Shotton and Brenkley Lane surface mines near Cramlington, also in Northumberland.
The scheme, which will yield some 3mn tonnes of coal by 2024 according to reports, has generated a good deal of opposition locally, on both local amenity and wildlife conservation grounds, and as part of campaigns to end the use of fossil fuels on greenhouse gas emission grounds.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Subjects: Energy engineering, Environmental protection, Banking, finance and investment, Coal mines, Coal, Emissions
