The norths second black gold rush

The North East’s second Gold rush

The 2008 camp for climate action is to be held near to the proposed site for a new coal fired power station. E-on the company that wants to build the power station has stated that it will use a system called Carbon Capture and storage. C.C.S is still in an early development stage and has not been used on such a large scale. The power station will have to begin life without any c.c.s meaning mega-tons of unfiltered Co2 emissions’ heading into our atmosphere .

The climate camp(www.climatecamp.org.uk) at Kingsnorth in the Medway valley will highlight and take direct action against the black hole in the governments climate change policy. COAL.

Power stations like Eggbrough, Drax and Kingsnorth produce huge amounts of filthy emissions, drax alone produces approx 21 millions tones of Co2 per year.
All this coal has to come from somewhere and it would ‘seam’ the money men have set their greedy eyes on the north of England again.
U:k coal and the banks group have several planning application to surface mine/open cast across the North East.
*Bradley Co. Durham- 550 000 tonnes
*Park wall north Co. Durham- 1 275 000 tonnes
*potland burn Northumberland- 2 000 000 tonnes
*Shotton Northumberland- 3 000 000 tonnes
*An extension to the exsisting site at widdrington

In addition to these applications there is already one of the largest open cast sites in the U:K at Stobswood near Morpeth. Surface mining sites are also operating in Widdrington, Blagdon estate in Northumberland. Steadburns and stoney heap near to Consett Co. Durham.

In the case of shotton/cramlington planning application, Shotton is in an opencast constraint area which means that there is a presumption against Surface mining. Northumberland county council up held the constraint and re-jected the application. However the communities and local government secretary Hazel Blears M.P Stepped in and overruled the county council allowing the opencast operation to go ahead much to dismay of the local community
(www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/02/08/ministers-quizzed-on-opencast-policy-61634-20450633/ )
The potland burn site is also in a constraint area yet U:K coal has still lodged an application probably because they feel the political climate is in their favor.

As if the ecological destruction, industrial injuries/deaths and disruption to the community that opencast mining leaves behind Npower have stated that they have an imminent planning application to build a new coal fired power station in Blyth on the site of the existing power station. Construction is due to begin 2014 on the same timeline as Kingsnorth.
Whilst the focus is on the climate camp and Kingsnorth, the North of England and our resources are central to the U:K government and their capitalist bosses plans for a new generation of dirty power stations .
This new generation of coal fired power stations and the unacceptable mining practices that accompany them must be stopped.
One of the key features of the climate camp is direct action.
The Banks group have offices in West Cornforth near Ferryhill, U:K coal headoffices are in Doncaster’ leave it in the ground’ have began regular noise demos outside the offices.All opencastsites are easily accessable

Links and info:

www.climatecamp.org.uk
www.earthfirst.org.uk/leaveitinthrground
www.greenpeace.com
www.thecoalhole.org
www.indymedia.org.uk
www.banksdevlopments.com
www.ukcoal.com