Dewley Hill planning application submitted

Banks Mining and Ibstock submit joint planning application for Dewley Hill surface coal and fireclay mine

A PLANNING application for a new surface coal and fireclay mine on the border between Newcastle and Northumberland has been submitted to Newcastle City Council for review.

The Dewley Hill surface mine scheme is a joint planning application by Banks Mining and Ibstock Brick, the owners of the Throckley Brickworks, which is located around half a mile from the Dewley Hill site.

Around 800,000 tonnes of high-quality coal would be extracted from the site, most of which would be used for industrial purposes, along with some 400,000 tonnes of fireclay for use in brick manufacturing at Throckley.

The scheme would run for a limited period of three and a half years from the start of operations to the completion of restoration, and the companies are hoping to have the application determined by the city council’s planning committee before the end of the year.

Jeannie Kielty, community relations manager at The Banks Group, said: ‘This is a carefully designed and sensibly located scheme that will bring a wide range of tangible benefits to the local area and help to meet more of the UK’s continuing need for minerals from high-quality domestic resources.

As well as making a positive contribution towards the UK’s balance of payments, the Dewley Hill scheme has been designed to deliver a range of social, economic and environmental benefits, including a £50,000 community fund, a £50,000 skills fund to help local unemployed people overcome barriers to work, the planting of more than 26,000 trees and hedgerows in a newly created woodland area, and the enhancement of local heritage assets such as the historic wagonways, which are surviving examples of the rich mining heritage in the region.

Ms Kielty (pictured) continued: ‘The site would support up to 50 highly skilled, well-paid jobs and will open up substantial new opportunities for local suppliers, extending our long-term record of investing in the communities in which we operate.

‘As a North East company with more than four decades of surface mining experience, we have the skills and experience required to work the Dewley Hill site in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible way, and hope Newcastle City Council’s planning committee will recognize the merits of this scheme when our planning application comes before them.’

Nick Spence, planning and estates manager for the North at Ibstock Brick, added: ‘We are delighted to be working with Banks Mining on this project, as not only is this a joint mining programme that will deliver the raw materials we need, but it’s also a joint ethos.

‘Our approach to sustainable working is culturally aligned to Banks’ development with care approach, which places high value on community engagement and support and care for the environment.’