A new £165 million coal mine has been given the go-ahead by Cumbrian council leaders, causing furore among climate change campaigners.

Woodhouse colliery will be Britain’s first newly built deep coal mine in around 30 years and was backed by Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem councillors.

Cumbria County Council said it was putting the needs of local jobs above concerns around climate change, despite the decision sparking protests from activists who said the mine would obstruct efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.

An artist’s illustration of how the new £165 million mine would look (Picture: West Cumbria Mining)

Developer, West Cumbria Mining Limited, who filed the application, wants to extract 2.5 million tonnes of coking coal from the coastline between Whitehaven and St Bees in Copeland.


Government fails to answer if casual sex is illegal under new coronavirus rules

The plan is to process the fossil fuel at a nearby plant, before supplying it for the UK and European steel industry, in a bid to replace imports from the US, Russia, Canada and Colombia.



Conservative MP for Copeland, Trudy Harrison, said she ‘wholeheartedly’ backed the proposals for the undersea mine and believed and highlighted the new jobs and ‘huge’ investment it would bring for the area.

Liam Fox, international trade secretary, has also endorsed the plan.

It is expected to begin production in two years’ time and hopes to employ some 500 people, with around 2,000 further jobs created in the supply chain.

Climate change campaigners have staged protests over the decision (Picture: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)

But critics have slammed the decision and accused the council of ignoring the environment crisis.

It comes after Mozambique was hit by a cyclone killing more than 1,000 people, which has been described as the worst ever weather disaster to hit the southern hemisphere.

The decision caused a number of climate change campaigners, present at the meeting, to stage a sit in on the floor of the council chamber.

Greenpeace told The Guardian it objected to the mine and said the decision could not be justified when it is possible to recycle steel using plants supplied with electricity, rather than coal.

Some objectors now staging a sit in on the floor of the county council chamber after plans for a new coal mine in Whitehaven were approved pic.twitter.com/V8urmM3Kf3 — Robert Cooper (@BBCRobertCooper) March 19, 2019

Chair of the Cumbria county council’s development control and regulation committee, Geoff Cook, admitted it was not an easy decision to make but echoed the sentiment of jobs taking precedence over climate change.

He said: ‘It wasn’t an easy decision. All of us would prefer to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and we recognise that during construction there will be disruption to many local residents.

‘However we felt that the need for coking coal, the number of jobs on offer and the chance to remove contamination outweighed concerns about climate change and local amenity.’

Sunak weighs up possible furlough replacements amid mass unemployment fears

Mark Kirkbride, the chief executive of West Cumbria Mining, said: ‘Woodhouse colliery will bring significant local benefits to Whitehaven, Copeland and Cumbria in terms of jobs and investment.

‘I am proud to be part of something which will have such a positive impact on the local community and economy as well as the long-term financial benefits the mine will bring to the UK.’

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.