Dewley Hill: Newcastle City Council blocks controversial coal mine
Climate campaigners have expressed relief after an application to turn more than 250 acres of greenbelt land near Newcastle into an opencast coal mine was blocked.
Image: Defend Dewley Hill
The application for the Dewley Hill project was submitted earlier this year by Banks Mining, which argued that the project would provide essential fuel to the UK’s steel and cement sector. Its plans were built around extracting up to 800,000 tonnes of coal and 400,000 tonnes of fireclay each year.
Banks Mining also pointed to the job creation potential of the project amid the backdrop of Covid-19. It argued that the mine would create 200 full-time equivalent roles for the local area.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth – which challenged the third runway plan– said that expansion is still “far from certain”, while rival expansion bidder Heathrow Hub maintains that the cost of the third runway remains prohibitive.
Although the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Paris Agreement was in fact adequately considered, Friends of the Earth head of legal Will Rundle emphasised that the judgement is “no ‘green light’ for expansion”.
He added: “It makes clear that full climate considerations remain to be addressed and resolved at the planning stage. Heathrow expansion remains very far from certain and we now look forward to stopping the third runway in the planning arena.”
Barrister faces action for breach of Heathrow judgment embargo lawgazette.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lawgazette.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Press Association 2021
A plane lands at Heathrow Airport
Plans for a third runway at Heathrow have been given a major boost after the airport’s owner won a Supreme Court challenge.
Heathrow Airport Ltd successfully overturned an earlier ruling that the Government had failed to take account of its own climate commitments when it approved the scheme.
The west London airport said the latest decision will “allow global Britain to become a reality”.
Environmental groups and other opponents of the expansion project described the outcome as “incredibly disappointing” but insisted there “remains real doubt” about whether the third runway will ever happen.
Heathrow Airport wins appeal in plan for third runway
Lawyers for Heathrow Airport Ltd told the court in October that the firm, which owns and operates the London airport, still wishes to go ahead with the expansion project.
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