Coal Action Network

Uncategorised

Object to Banks proposed expansion of the Bradley opencast

2nd December 2019 By coalaction

Banks Group want to expand the Bradley Opencast coal mine in the Pont Valley. Campaign to Protect Pont Valley have launched a new campaign to oppose this planning application and they need your support. Inspired by Defend Dewley Hill, which this summer garnered over 4,000 objections to Banks Group’s proposal to opencast near Newcastle, we […]

Uncategorised

Banks Group in High Court, amid wildlife allegations

2nd December 2019 By coalaction

Banks Group were in the High Court on Wednesday 27th November amid allegations of wildlife crime at their current ‘Bradley’ opencast coal site in the Pont Valley, County Durham. The claimant is Don Kent, of Shotley Bridge, County Durham, who is seeking to “hold Banks Group to account for its actions which led to the […]

Uncategorised

Opencast invader found not guilty in court, yet Hargreaves face no discipline over permission failures

2nd December 2019 By coalaction

Today one person was found not guilty of ‘Assault by Battery’ by a judge at Peterlee Magistrates court. The assault was alleged to have been inflicted on a security guard at Hargreave’s Field House opencast, which lies between the villages of West Rainton and Pittington, Durham. During an Earth First! action at the opencast in […]

Uncategorised

‘We will stop them’: Pont Valley community takes on Banks Group’s latest coal scheme

25th November 2019 By coalaction

Campaign to Protect Pont Valley has launched a new campaign to oppose Banks Group’s new application to expand the existing Bradley opencast coal site to the west towards Leadgate. The company last week announced their plan to extract a further 90,000 tonnes of coal and 20,000 tonnes of fireclay. Annie Lee, local resident and member […]

Uncategorised

Interview with Don Kent – I want justice and to make sure Banks can’t do it again

19th November 2019 By coalaction

Don is a resident local to the Bradley opencast coal mine, in the Pont Valley, and a long term campaigner against opencast coal mining in the Pennine hills. In 2018 he got involved in the Campaign to Protect Pont Valley, to try and stop Banks Group from starting a new opencast coal mine, and is […]

Uncategorised

Aberthaw: Imagining healthy futures through one man’s love for the area.

14th November 2019 By coalaction

Aberthaw power station is closing in March 2020. As yet there is no certainty about what happens next. While a consultation process has been announced with workers, nothing has been said publicly about the restoration of the site. Just transition rightly include the lives of workers in the industry, but alongside that, there is also […]

About us