Scotland and Wales have it. We want it too

In my last blog I mentioned that a lady had asked how close an open cast mine can be to her house. Well, I have found out and in England its as close as it likes. So while the spoil heap at Langton may technically not be an open cast site it is literally at the end of the gardens of the folks who live on Kirkby Road.
Meanwhile in Scotland and (since January this year) in Wales it is 500m. That is no comfort to the good folks who live next to the Fos-y-Fran open cast coal mine in Wales because if that regulation had been in place 3 years ago the mine would never have got the go-ahead. But it’s there now and is putting the freeze on UK Coals operations in Wales.
There is no such distance in England. So we need to do something about that. It’s easy. Write to your MP and ask him/her to tell Hazel Blears to act NOW. She can do this easily as Minister for Communities and Local Government. All she needs to do is to tell all the Local Authorities in England to put it in their Minerals Development Plan. God, I’m beginning to sound like a planner. I’d better go and lie down in a darkened room till this passes over BUT it helps to know the rules THEY operate by so we can use the same rules and WIN.

Its getting fishier and fishier

NANC have learned that the Highways Agency have apparently sold land to ‘a mining company’.  This land is from where the M1 was widened in Nottinghamshire and is the site of a former depot.  Of course we have to check this and have asked for confirmation of this from the Highways Agency.  We have also been told that a woman recently rang up and asked the planning department what the closest distance to a house that an open cast mine could be.  We are not sure if there is one but we will find out and post it here.

ATH have put in an appeal…and more

We have been informed that ATH have decided to appeal.  So we immediately got on to Derbyshire CC planning and they said they had not received the papers yet but that an appeal was going to go ahead.  They gave us the internet link to the Planning Inspectorate  where you can comment on line.  NANC are posting this link here

http://www.pcs.planningportal.gov.uk/pcsportal/makerep.asp?caseaddress=COO.2036.300.8.1437284&appealtype=COO.2036.300.2.2083

So please all those good folks that read this blog do fill in the form and demand that the Inspector reject the application.

Now it’s totally unrelated but there is a precedent where one of Her Majesty’s Planning Inspectors put climate change as a reason for their decision on a planning appeal.  That is in the case of the proposed (now actually going ahead – hurrah) wind farm at Bilsthorpe in Nottinghamshire where – and I quote – “I take the view that the contribution to meeting regional targets for the generation of energy from renewable souces and the effect that this would have to contributing to tackling the urgent challenge of climate change represents a significant benefit which MORE THAN OUTWEIGHS the harm to the landscape” (my capitals).  So there you have it – climate change CAN be considered in planning decisions.

That means that climate change can be used as a reason to reject this application.  So get writing and tell the inspector that a precedent has been set which prioritised climate change.

A couple of weeks ago I met a Councillor from the Notts CC planning committee.  I recognised her and started talking about the Langton Pinxton situation and she said that they wanted to reject it but couldn’t.  WHAT?  They could have done that at the time!  NANC gave them the opportunity but they ignored it and were taken in by the smooth talking Mr Lenagh and the fear of running out of power.

And it gets worse for Notts.  Using the good old Freedom of Information Act NANC has obtained letters suggesting that UK Coal are interested in starting up an open cast mine in Cossall.  We were warned about this by a local resident who must have seen their pet geologists wandering around the place.  There have been 3 attempts to have an open cast site there in the past and all were knocked back.  But UK Coal don’t seem to have given up  and are saying that they are, and I quote “looking at all their landholdings with a view to maximising opportunities for surface mine coal production.  In Nottinghamshire we have undertaken some preliminary work on the Shortwood Farm prospect.”

So NANC’s work is not over it would seem.  Watch this space.