Plans to build the UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years in Cumbria is facing dwindling support as a public inquiry into the proposal gets under way today, the Guardian reported.
West Cumbria Mining has been developing plans for the creation of a metallurgical coal mine, known as Woodhouse Colliery, off the coast near Whitehaven in West Cumbria to supply UK and European steelmakers, which currently import around 45 million tonnes of metallurgical coal every year.
Opponents of the plans say the coal would not be suitable for domestic or European steel production.
“Our expert witnesses show that the coal from this mine is not the type that the UK and EU steel industry needs, so it would not replace current imports,” said Maggie Mason, whose organisation, South Lakes Action on Climate Change, will be making submissions to the inquiry, the paper reported.
The inquiry is expected to run on for at least four weeks, meaning that a subsequent decision from the planning inspector and then the secretary of state are unlikely to be made before the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow this November, the Guardian said.
The proposal attracted opposition earlier this year and was cited as an example of a lack of joined-up thinking from a UK government that was also making big promises on the environment. Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, said the mine would “increase global emissions and make it harder to achieve the UK carbon budgets”.
West Cumbria Mining has said it looks forward to explaining its plans for the world’s first net carbon zero underground coal mine at the inquiry.
It plans to use renewable electricity, methane gas capture and elimination, microgrid power generation, green bio-fuel and gold standard carbon offsetting to meet its net zero target.
The company expects the project to create 532 direct and 1,618 indirect jobs and deliver about £130mln in annual spend in Cumbria when the project is in full production.