On Monday, all five defendants were acquitted of aggravated trespass for actions intended to delay and stop Banks Group accessing land to start an opencast coal mine in the Pont Valley, Durham. The five were in various positions including locking on to arm tubes submerged in concrete, up a tripod and lying in tunnels on […]
Durham Miners Association support Pont Valley
13th July 2018
As we march in the Durham Miners Gala behind our new banner, we stand in solidarity with working class people fighting against state oppression in search of a better life for our communities. Durham Miners’ Association support our campaign against new opencast in the Pont Valley. “The Durham Miners’ Association has opposed opencast mining for […]
Save Our Ponds – Protect Pont Valley
16th June 2018
Diversity in the ecological sense is treasured. On a global scale conservationists focus a lot of their time and resources on the protection of the most diverse ecosystems if we are talking land the most diverse area is a tropical rainforest and a fuss is made about deforestation. Conservationists are actually right to make a […]
Can you help the Campaign to Protect Pont Valley? We are asking that you email James Brokenshire, the Secretary of State for Communities, Housing and Local Government and ask him to stop the Bradley opencast. A template letter is below. The email address is james.brokenshire@communities.gsi.gov.uk please copy in jake.berry@communities.gsi.gov.uk, or you can write to Ministry […]
*** ONLINE PROTECTORS, WE NEED YOU ***
31st May 2018
*** ONLINE PROTECTORS, WE NEED YOU NOW *** Rainton and Tynedale Roadstones, part of MGL Group, are in the process of tarmacking the access road for the opencast site. Although Banks Group have contracted the MGL Group it is unlikely that they are fully aware of the nature of the site and the public feeling […]
Protect Pont Valley: What we’ve done and what you can do
31st May 2018
Tracy Gillman, a local resident and campaigner, put together this potted history of the 30 year community struggle against opencast at Pont Valley (near Dipton and Leadgate in County Durham). The local community have been fighting applications on this site for 50 years. The first application was approved but overturned by the then Secretary of […]
Today Bank’s Group said that it “formally commenced mining operations at their new Bradley surface mine.” Suggesting that planning permission has been triggered. Local residents saw that Banks Group started working this morning in Brooms Pond which is a nature conservation value at County level, qualifying as Pond Biodiversity Action Plan. Campaigners have been racing […]
Campaign groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and 38 Degrees have challenged the recently appointed Secretary of State for Communities, James Brokenshire, to ‘act urgently to secure this government’s position as a world leader in phasing out coal’, by revoking the permit for an opencast coal mine set to go ahead in the […]
Local residents take direct action against new opencast
15th May 2018
Local residents block potential opencast coal site risking arrest to protect their community This morning (15/05/18) two Durham residents living just 300m from the controversial Bradley opencast coal extraction, blocked the gates to the work site for three hours, before being dangerously moved by the police. Banks Group is trying to complete an access road […]
Saturday demos at the Pont Valley
11th May 2018
The Campaign to Protect Pont Valley is still going strong. Despite their best efforts Banks Group has not finished the preparation which triggers planning permission. Everything is still to play for. Please come to one of the up coming community demonstrations. On Saturday 5th May the community demonstration was also direct action as no work […]