The Campaign to Protect Rural England [1] denounced the decision of the Secretary of State for Communities, Rt Hon John Denham MP,  issued today (Wednesday) to allow a massive new opencast coal mine as undermining the Government’s much trumpeted commitment to a low-carbon future.

The Huntington Lane opencast mine near Telford has been approved against the wishes of the local council and community groups who will now have to live with harmful dust and noise pollution, and the loss of 230 acres of greenfield land.

The mine will encroach on a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and produce a million extra tonnes of fossil fuel at a time when the coal industry already has permission to extract 71 million tonnes of coal from existing mines [2].

The decision raises concerns that the Government is:

• moving towards a presumption in favour of coal [3];
• increasingly inclined to override the views of local communities [4]; and
• undermining its commitment to protect special landscapes [5].

Dustin Benton, CPRE Campaigner said:

“In a recent online debate with CPRE, Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband reiterated his determination to reduce carbon emissions and the need for cleaner energy sources, and yet some of his colleagues don’t seem to be listening.” 

Dustin Benton concluded:

“Burning more coal at the expense of the environment, communities and landscapes raises serious concerns about the Government’s commitment to a low carbon future.”

– END –
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Bill Bryson. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen. www.cpre.org.uk
2. Latest figures from the British Geological Survey, the Decc and the UK Coal Authority show that the amount of coal available from existing open cast mines is 54m tonnes, with a further 16.7m tonnes available from recently approved sites not yet in operation.

3. In 1999, after decades of CPRE campaigning, Paragraph 8 of the Government’s Minerals Planning Guidance 3 stated that “the Government believes there should normally be a presumption against (coal extraction) development”, subject to tests on environmental acceptability. While a welcome commitment in itself, this was watered down from CPRE’s initial demands that opencast developments should bring environmental and community benefits, and not just be acceptable.

4. This case had been ‘called-in’ for a decision by the Secretary of State, and is the fifth in England since 2006 to be referred to national government having been previously rejected by local councils – all five have now been granted permission to the bewilderment of local campaigners who cite the devastating impacts on the health of local residents, businesses and protected landscapes.

More detailed information and statistics available at http://www.cpre.org.uk/news/view/630

5. Official government minerals guidance precludes extraction in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty unless there are exceptional circumstances and extraction of coal was in the public interest. The evidence submitted by the Telford and Wrekin Council and CPRE Shropshire to the public enquiry http://www.telford.gov.uk/Environment+and+planning/Planning/Planninginquiryw2007_1648.htmThe could find no evidence of exceptional circumstances, and showed the negative impacts on the community would cause “significant and extensive harm”.