Blog – Coal Action Network

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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‘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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Aberthaw’s closing: A massive victory against climate catastrophe and air pollution

18th October 2019 By coalaction

RWE announced in August that its Aberthaw power station will close in March 2020. This is a vital step forward in the battle against unsustainable power and air pollution. Aberthaw power station was allowed to break EU air quality standards. Between 2008 and 2011 it released double the amount of nitrogen dioxide permitted. The UK […]

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Coal Action Network joins requests for Whitehaven mine to be called in

2nd October 2019 By coalaction

West Cumbria Mining have been granted planning permission for the on land section of a coking coal mine which would reach under the Irish sea. Lead by Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole and South Lakes Action on Climate Change – towards transition, a number of campaign groups and the local MP, Mr Farron, have […]

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Earth First! Takes on Coal Mining in the North East of England

19th August 2019 By coalaction

This is a reprint of the Earth First! press release: Activists under the banner of Earth First! Take on Coal Mining in the North East of England Two Coal Mines Shut Down In the early hours of this morning, activists from the North East, around the UK and abroad entered and occupied machinery in Field […]

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Pont Valley at Durham Miners Gala: A Grand Day Out

30th July 2019 By coalaction

Guest Author: June Davison from Campaign to Protect Pont Valley On Saturday 13 July we paid our second visit to the Durham Miner’s Gala. Again, the weather was good to us, at least in the morning. On route to the field we boogied to crazy 70s and 80s favourites performed by Brandon’s brass band. As […]