Plans for an £160 million coal mine off the coast of West Cumbria have been withdrawn.
West Cumbria Mining wanted to create the mine off Whitehaven but the plans proved controversial.
Approval for the scheme was overturned by the High Court last year following a campaign by environmental groups.
The Government confirmed yesterday, Friday April 4, that the proposal was now not on the table.
A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “West Cumbria Mining has withdrawn its application for a coal mine at Whitehaven and the government will have no further role in this case.”
Whitehaven & Workington MP Josh MacAlister said the firm’s withdrawal followed the decision by the Coal Authority last year to reject its coal licence applications and the Government was not involved in that decision.
He said: “Their applications were rejected because the Coal Authority could not realistically conclude that the mine is financially viable and found that subsidence damage may be caused to land or property in the vicinity of the proposed mine.
“I’ve always said that this project was unlikely to happen.
“I am committed to securing the jobs of the future that we deserve in our area. That’s why I’m working with Cumberland Council, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the Government on a plan to unlock land at Moorside for new nuclear. And why the council and I are driving forward ambitious plans for a major expansion of the Port of Workington to secure significant public and private investment and attract new industries.
“These are the sorts of credible opportunities the people of West Cumbria deserve and that I am working flat out to deliver.”
The plans were approved locally in 2021, but the authority’s decision was challenged and a planning inquiry held that year.
In 2022, the Government ruled that the mine could go ahead, but Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change challenged the decision.
A High Court hearing was held in July last year. The Government had pulled out of defending the plans, after admitting West Cumbria Mining’s proposal was permitted unlawfully.
It said there was an error in law in the Conservative government’s decision to grant planning permission for the mine in December 2022.
In September last year, the go-ahead was quashed by Justice Holgate at the High Court, who said environmental assumptions underpinning the development were legally flawed. Combustion emissions from the inevitable burning of the Cumbrian coal should have been assessed in the developer’s climate assessment.
Westmorland & Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who has been a vocal campaigner against the mine for years, said: “After years of campaigning, it’s welcome that these environmentally backwards plans have been consigned to the rubbish bin where they belong.
“The UK steel industry was very clear that this coal was not suitable for steel making in this country and so the economic case for this heavily polluting mine was completely dead.
“Now the Government must finally get serious about investing in renewable energy jobs here in Cumbria.
“If this Government truly cares about economic growth and the environment then it must start investing in tidal projects in the west coast of Cumbria and Morecambe Bay where there is huge untapped potential.”
