Whittonstall threatened by prospect of open-cast coal mine

On Sunday I attended the public meeting at St Philip and St James’s Church, Whittonstall to discuss the horrific prospect local residents are now facing: an enormous open-cast mine being dug on the edge of the village.

In August, UK Coal announced a plan to submit a planning application for a site to the north-east of the village. The "Hoodsclose" scheme will allegedly create up to 50 jobs for 7 years.

I, and practically everyone who attended the meeting, are deeply sceptical of these figures: first, note the careful use of the words "up to"; second, bear in mind that modern coal mining is a hi-tech affair - any jobs created will require specialised skills which local workers looking for employment will probably lack; third, there is no cast-iron commitment to closing the site in 7 years time. One local resident voiced the words of her father in the 1940s, discussing an open-cast mine on the Northumberland coast, which was promised to last for only "5 years" - 65 years later, the mine is still going.

Local residents are up in arms, and rightly so. This part of the world is simply stunning, and could not have looked more beautiful than on a day like today - blue skies, a cool breeze, blazing sunshine. An open-cast mine will be an open sore, a blight on the landscape, will make moving away from the village impossible unless vendors are prepared to take a huge hit on their selling price, and raise the prospect of years of dust and trucks hauling coal off site - so much for a happy family life for residents with young children. From what I could see, the whole village turned out, and they are 100% opposed.

An awful lot of work will need to go into preventing this planning application from going through. It goes without saying: this is not a party-political issue. So I look forward to working with local councillors, the sitting MP and Hexham's other would-be MPs, if they agree that this plan is a really bad idea, to stop this nightmare vision from becoming reality.

NB: For the Hexham Courant report of this meeting, check this link