Green light for Highthorn surface mine

Northumberland County Council planning committee supports Banks Mining’s surface mine plans

NORTHUMBERLAND County Council’s planning committee has backed plans for a new surface coal mine in the county. Having had a recommendation from the Council’s planning officers for approval of the proposed Highthorn scheme, the committee voted 13–0 in favour of the plans put forward by Banks Mining, with just one abstention.

The proposals were backed by Widdrington Station & Stobswood Parish Council, as well as by the North East Chamber of Commerce, the CBI for the North East and The Coal Authority.

Banks Mining will invest around £120 million in the North East economy through the Highthorn project, which will be located to the south-east of the village of Widdrington, and are looking to provide at least 100 skilled jobs through the surface mine, with 50 new jobs being created and a further 50 existing jobs transferring from the company’s current surface mine sites in Northumberland.

Contracts worth a total of £48 million will be put out to tender as part of realizing the project, with Banks committing to using locally based suppliers wherever possible. In addition, around £3 million will also be contributed to the public purse through business rates.

As well as including an employment, skills development and training fund as part of the project’s overall community benefits package, the Highthorn planning application also includes details of a major initiative which will aim to create an enhanced tourism offering and new wildlife habitats in and around the Druridge area.

The Discover Druridge project will see a co-ordinated approach involving local people, tourism and conservation bodies that will help deliver a tourism offer which will sustain the Druridge Bay area for years to come and give the area the infrastructure required for managing the increasing numbers of visitors that the scheme hopes to draw in.

The Highthorn scheme will also mean an end to the removal of up to 62,000 tonnes of sand from the beach and dunes at Druridge Bay after Banks Mining reached an agreement with the owner of a long-standing mineral planning permission which allows for this to be done, in response to local requests that it be stopped.

Durham-headquartered Banks Mining are already one of Northumberland’s biggest private sector employers, and currently employ more than 200 people at their existing Shotton and Brenkley Lane surface mines near Cramlington. Their local operations already contribute around £35 million to the regional economy every year through wages, investments, business rates and the local supply chain.

Jeannie Kielty, development relations co-ordinator at The Banks Group, said: ‘Having had a recommendation for approval from Northumberland County Council’s planning officers for our Highthorn proposals, we’re very pleased that the members of the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee have also been minded to support it today.

‘We have worked hard over more than three years to ensure that accurate information has been available to local people, groups and businesses on the details of our Highthorn proposals, and are very grateful to all those who have given us their backing during that time.

‘We fully understand the responsibilities that will come with operating the Highthorn scheme, as well as the importance of living up to the commitments we have made to creating a tangible legacy for the area through its restoration, and as we do at all our sites, we will strive to work Highthorn to the very highest environmental and operational standards.’