Newcastle City Council vote against plans for an opencast mine at Dewley Hill

Newcastle City Council Planning Committee have today decided not to grant permission to Banks Mining for an opencast mine at Dewley Hill.

Banks Mining wanted to create an opencast mine at Dewley Hill, near Throckley, which would see 800,000 tonnes of coal and 400,000 tonnes of fireclay extracted from more than 250 acres of green belt land.

The application to opencast mine at the site in the city has stoked strong emotions on both sides, and even protests.

The Council had pledged to declare a Climate Emergency, set a route path to Net Zero by 2030 and to actively discourage the extraction and use of fossil fuels in the city for energy production.

In a Statement, the Labour Party said it 'understands and regrets the loss of jobs, the recession from Covid will mean we need every job we can get but this cannot be at any cost. No job is worth the destruction of our environment. Newcastle Labour are planning for a Green economic recovery where the city builds forward better and creates green jobs ready for the future.'

Cllr Nick Forbes, Labour Leader of Newcastle City Council said: “I welcome this decision. The time for mining in our city is over. Coal is our history, not our future. Newcastle was built on coal, and it is hugely symbolic that we have committed ourselves to renewable and sustainable energy sources in the future. This is real leadership on climate change.

“There is no return to business as usual. We have a proud heritage of innovation, industry and collaboration. In the past we have delivered world-class engineering solutions to address the challenges of their time and successfully achieved economic growth and prosperity for the city. We must now draw on our city-wide world leading expertise and resources to be the example of a post-industrial city that has mitigated its own emissions, adapted to climate change, prepared for a rapidly changing economy and deliver our Net Zero vision for the city. We look forward to COP26 to showcase our plans and show the world that Newcastle is a Climate Leader.”

Cllr Clare Penny-Evans, Labour Cabinet Member for Climate Change on Newcastle City Council said "I’m pleased to hear of this decision today. Agreeing this application would have been a backward step in our journey to Net Zero and decarbonisation. This pandemic has shown us how important our green spaces are and its vital we protect them. We need to enhance not destroy our green infrastructure, trees and landscaping, biodiversity and habitats.

"We are proud of our recent award by CDP of being Climate Leaders, one of only four cities in the UK to achieve this. We are committed to our declaration of a climate emergency and our net zero action plan sets us on a target to Net zero twenty years ahead of the Government. In fact, in Newcastle, we are one of the first Cities in the world to have three of our big anchor institutions not only declaring a climate emergency but are producing clear action plans on how they will reach Net Zero. We are together rapidly putting plans into action ahead of COP26 next year. “

Earlier in the week, Climate campaigners hung banners over the River Tyne this morning urging council bosses to turn down a bid to mine coal in Newcastle's green belt.

Two huge signs were dropped from the High Level Bridge on Tuesday telling Newcastle City Council to "end coal", with a verdict due on controversial plans in the outer west of the city later this week.

More than 5,000 objection letters were lodged against the Dewley Hill plans, plus a change.org petition with 18,953 signatures.

In response to the rejection of the plans, Jeannie Raine, community relations manager at The Banks Group, says: “Newcastle City Council identified Dewley Hill as the only minerals site in the city less than six months ago.“Given this fact, it is outrageous that, in the height of the worst economic crisis of our generation, its planning committee has decided to dismiss over 200 existing, well-paid North East jobs and has not grasped the opportunity to support a £75m investment in the regional economy which would secure local supplies of much-needed minerals at the lowest environmental cost.“The committee heard, but did not listen to the indisputable fact that there will be continued demand for industrial coal and fireclay for use in UK steel, cement and brick manufacture, and we remain firm in our belief that these minerals should be mined locally in the UK in the safest, most efficient and most environmentally responsible way possible.“The acute need of the Throckley Brickworks for fireclay could not be met with a lower environmental impact than through the adjacent Dewley Hill site, and its owners Ibstock Brick have clearly repeated how much of a devastating blow its rejection would be in terms of production, local employment and investment.“The committee members also chose to ignore warnings from both Unite the Union and the Heritage Railway Associations that failing to make use of domestic supplies will force UK industry to drag the coal across the globe while simultaneously significantly increasing global greenhouse gas emissions – and all in the name of a simplistic view on climate change.“We remain grateful to the 1,450 individuals, community groups and organisations that have submitted letters in support of the Dewley Hill scheme, and will now examine the precise reasons for this decision before deciding on the most appropriate next steps to take.”