Coal delay is slammed

HELEN KREFT

THE chairman of a group protesting against a proposed coal mining application in Measham has accused the company behind the scheme of 'dithering'.

Steve Leary, of the Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG), has written to UK Coal chairman David Jones, demanding that the company submits a formal planning application for opencast mining at the Minorca site as soon as possible because the delay was detrimentally affecting residents trying to sell their homes.

The application to mine 1.25 million tonnes of coal and 250,000 tonnes of clay at the site, off Gallows Lane, has been delayed four months and residents say the company's continued 'excuses' are wearing thin.

Mr Leary said in his letter that residents had been forced to declare UK Coal's intention to submit the application for the mine to prospective purchasers of their homes, which had consequently put them off.

He said: "Residents are angry and frustrated because, whilst UK Coal dithers about submitting its planning application, they are experiencing planning blight especially if they live within 800 metres of the site.

"By delaying your company's application, you are causing anguish to many people.

"I am getting enquiries from people about whether the rumours of an opencast site in the area are true, since they are considering buying a house here.

"I have told them about the situation and they have either delayed buying the property or they have gone elsewhere."

A UK Coal spokesman said the company had never been given a deadline date for the application.

He said "The application will be ready when it's ready. We were never given a deadline for this, so have been using this time to be thorough and accurate, with as much information as possible for residents.

"The reason for delay is the volume of work involved in preparing the application, and we are trying to avoid leaving any questions unanswered.

"We will be ready to submit the application with the best information in the next two to three weeks."