Banks planning for extra coal at two sites

Company to seek permission for proposed additional coal extraction at Shotton and Brenkley Lane 

BANKS Mining have announced plans to mine around 1 million additional tonnes of coal at two north-east surface mines. The company has identified an additional 3ha area at its Brenkley Lane site, in Newcastle, from which it is looking to mine over 400,000 tonnes of coal, as well as two additional areas for mining operations in the south-west corner and on the western side of its Shotton site in south-east Northumberland.

The Brenkley Lane work would not require any extension of the site’s current operational timescale, with the site still set to be completely restored by the end of 2021.

Up to 550,000 tonnes of coal would be extracted from the two Shotton locations, which would be transported away from the region by rail from the port of Blyth. The additional work would require a 12-month extension to the lifetime of the site, with coaling completed by October 2017 and full restoration carried out by October 2019.

A planning application for the Shotton South West scheme is expected to be submitted to Northumberland County Council within the next few weeks, with a planning application for the Brenkley Additional scheme being submitted to both Northumberland County Council and Newcastle City Council around the same time.

Banks recently won planning permission from Northumberland County Council for the Ferneybeds surface mine, which will be located to the south of the village of Widdrington Station, and won praise from community leaders for the inclusive way in which the planning application was developed in conjunction with local people and altered to reflect queries they raised about its operation.