West Cumbria Mining proposes 'Woodhouse Colliery', a 50-year mine near Whitehaven in Cumbria which would produce 2.78 million tonnes of coking coal a year. The large scale underground and under-sea mine would generate over 9 million tonnes of CO2 per year producing coking coal with over 85% being exported to European steel works.
There are two main campaigns to stop Woodhouse Colliery
South Lakes Action on Climate Change (Towards Transition) undertake a range of climate-related activities in the South Lakes Area. They bring planning expertise to the campaign to stop Whitehaven, and have useful resources on their website:
Website: https://slacc.org.uk/campaigns/cumbria-coal-mine/
Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole is run by Radiation-free Lakeland, focussing on the site's proximity to Sellafield nuclear plant and on local environmental impacts.
Website: https://keepcumbriancoalinthehole.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stopthecumbriancoal/
While the application was approved in 2019 and again in October 2020 by Cumbria County Council, it is now going to Public Inquiry in September 2021. Following the public inquiry the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, currently Robert Jenrick, will decide the application.
In May 2023, Coal Action Network wrote to the Climate Change, Energy, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) of the Welsh Senedd, informing the Committee of the ongoing illegal coal mining at Ffos-y-fran in Merthyr Tydfil, and the Council and Welsh Government’s refusal to use their enforcement powers to prevent the daily extraction of over 1,000 tonnes of coal…
The end of coal power in the UK – how we got here, what’s still needed? Smoke filled the sky across the industrial parts of the UK, as coal powered the industrial revolution. First coal brought prosperity and progress, but over decades the smoke stacks…
The UK is reaching a major milestone in its transition to clean energy, one that Coal Action Network has campaigned for since its inception in 2008 — the complete phase-out of coal power generation. From October 2024, Ratcliffe power station — the last remaining coal-fired power station in the country…
Coal powered Britain’s industrial and economic expansion during its Industrial Revolution. The abundance of coal discovered in Britain was a key factor that enabled the country’s early industrialisation, developing technologies and industries unfeasible elsewhere due to the lack of cheap energy sources…
Victory! The High Court overturns the 2022 planning permission to mine coal at Whitehaven.
Take action – let planners say no to new coal mining TAKE ACTION The public consultation window for the National Policy and Planning Framework represents the first opportunity since the new UK Government was formed to stop any new coal mine application winning planning permission…
We’ve teamed up with our friends at the Good Law Project to obtain expert legal advice, revealing that ERI Ltd’s disastrous proposal to mine two of the Bedwas coal tips is unlikely to get the necessary permissions. If it does, we’re confident we can challenge it…
The Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee (CCEIC) has released a critical report on the management of opencast coal mining in Wales, particularly focusing on Ffos-y-Fran, one of the last opencast…
From Tuesday 16th July to lunchtime 18th July, Lord Holgate heard the case, brought by South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth, against the Government’s 2022 approval of a new underground coal mine at Whitehaven.
I am appalled to hear that the company is to acquire steam locomotives to haul coal from the mine. The reason for this is to avoid using diesel fuel!
I volunteer in local groups for FoE, Greenpeace and XR in Northants- I’m shocked that we have not been called to help you with this key campaign- key to COP26 etc. Sorry to hear it has been voted for by local gov-
I gather from an article in the Ecologist you now ail to challenge through judicial review but need funds-
We should campaign here and across the whole country to support you in this-
I’ll try and get the ball rolling- sorry to join so late- didn’t hear about it-
How do you think/feel we can most help?