Controversial plans to create an opencast mine on 120 hectares of greenbelt known as 'DH Lawrence land' were given the go-ahead this week. The proposales for Shortwood Farm between Trowell and Cossall were narrowly passed by Nottinghamshire County Council's planning and licensing committee, after five members voted in favour, and four against.
Representations were made by local action groups and residents opposed to the plans at the meeting on Tuesday. Campaigners said they were concerned about traffic chaos, excessive noise, dust and pollution and the 'devasting impact' on the landscae and environment.
Donna Butler from the action group Shortwood Farm Opencast Opposition called for a public inquiry and claimed that many issues had been overlooked, including the close proximity of the site to local schools.
Resident Keith Harrison said the countryside was precious and should not be sacrificed. "Greenbelt in not some sort of planning concept," he said. "We are talking about DH Lawrence land and the setting of the first paragraph in his novel, THe Rainbow. "This land is precious and should not be sacrificed in this way, " he said. Mr Harrison went on to say that his son was asthmatic and he had 'grave' concerns about dust particles that would be generated from the site 'for years to come'.
Cllr Philip Owen, who represents Nuthall on the county council, said if the plans had to go ahead Trowell service station behind thee site should be oppened up to allow lorries access to the M1 so they could avoid village roads - something the highways "These huge, monstrous lorries will come out onto the A609 and go down to Nuthall Island which is one of the busiest traffic junctions in the east midlands.
Access to the motorway should should be made via Trowell services. It's absurd," he said. The committee's vice chairman, Cllr Sue Saddington, said the five-year plan was not worth 16 weeks of coal supply. "If it was for years worth I might have a different opinion, but for 16 weeks? I find it mind boggling," she said.
Anton Fix and David Bolton from UK Coal said the cal was needed to generate electricity for Nottinghamshire's homes.
They said there were no material planning considerations that would allow refusal of the application, and at other surface mine sites, initial fears from the local community fell by the way side once work had started.
Committe chairman Cllr Sybil Fielding said: "To refuse planning permission, we would need sound planning reasons for doing so, or risk losing an appeal at considerable expense to the taxpayers.
"The permission allows mining to take place for less than five years and includes a comprehensive restoration plan which will have long term benefits for the local environment. The applicant demonstrated it was able to mitigate against potential sound and dust issues."
The mining will extract 1.275m tonnes of coal and create 56 new jobs. Community funding of £207, 000 will be offered by UK Coal.
Throughout the consultation 384 letters of objection were received and a 95-signature petetion.
--- Below: Earlier Press Report from October ...
Draft plans will be on show at public meetings on October 17 and 21, and the company hopes to submit a planning application to Notts County Council in four to 12 months.
The site would produce more than 1.275 million tons of coal and 250,000 tons of fireclay, used to make bricks. The mining would take place over four-and-a-half years but UK Coal would be on the site for five years and seven months. It would be restored to "green" land. But the plans will not go through unopposed.
Jane Burd, of campaign group Notts Against New Coal, said: "We are opposed to any application for an open cast mine for coal on climate change grounds and will be supporting residents of Cossall and Trowell if this application goes ahead. "Coal is dirty and polluting from the moment it is dug out of the ground to the moment it is burned in power stations. We need to address our addiction to fossil fuels and look to clean green energy for the future."
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| Anna Soubry (ConDem) Under-sectretary of state for Defence |
Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry (ConDem) is also opposed. She is writing to parish, borough and county councils to arrange a meeting and is urging councillors across all parties to unite over the issue. She said: "I can't see any benefit to anybody. If you talk to people who campaigned against it in Shipley Park, in Derbyshire, the reality was there was only a handful of jobs for local residents "The disadvantages overwhelmingly outweigh any advantages. "It's the loveliest piece of countryside in my constituency and opencast mining is a real scar on the landscape." The exhibitions will be at Trowell Parish Hall on October 17, from 10am-2pm, and Awsworth Village Hall on October 21, from 4pm- 8pm. Staff from UK Coal will answer questions, show draft plans and take feedback from residents. UK Coal has confirmed that four lorries would make a return journey from the site every hour.
A UK Coal spokesman said there were many misconceptions about surface mining. "Immediately you'll get concerns raised about dust, noise and blasting," he said. "It will always happen. People aren't educated about what surface mining is today and this exhibition aims to not only take on board people's views but also to lay bare the misconceptions about surface mining." He added that the company would adhere to strict requirements made by the council, if planning permission was granted. Campaigners twice fought against plans for opencast mining in the 1990s. Then, in 2000, UK Coal withdrew plans for the site due to a collapse in coal prices.
However, last year the Post revealed the company was investigating the site again. Broxtowe Borough Council leader David Watts said: "At public meetings last year residents made it absolutely clear that they did not want open cast mining in the area. It would wreck one of the most beautiful parts of Nottinghamshire and decimate the small area of green belt that we have left. We've just saved the green belt from being built all over, the last thing we want is for it to be dug up and mined."
[Jeff's Opinion: After the damage is done, no doubt the land will be turned into brown field so it could be converted to an industrial estate, at the very least (like fields adjourning the old Colliery at Eastwood), or , what is truly desired, masses of rabbit hutch dwellings to cater for, repeatedly claimed, '
homeless families' - homeless probably due to the uncontrolled influx of immigrants and migrants waltzing through our open borders and the epidemic 'benefits culture' of today. People want proper jobs and cherish their greenbelt lands, yet, as we know, the real people have no say in the matter (or it inevitably falls on deaf ears) - it was already decided a LONG time ago what would happen and at countless other greenbelt areas of this small island.]
Another Labour council has been implicated in the utilisation of taxpayer resources to propagandise against government spending reductions. The news follows on from recent revelations about how the Labour-run Lambeth council used over £600 in taxpayer money to propagandise against spending cuts.