Coal for heritage steam locomotives bid in Northumberland turned down by council

A planning application by Ken Johnson for a scheme that would have operated on land south east of Ramsey House, Mile Road, has been turned down by Northumberland County Council planning officers under delegated powers.

The description information for the bid included ‘erect steel joist shaft houses with electric hoists over centre of old and new shafts, repair old shaft and sink new shaft’.

The planning officer report explained: “Although not included within this application, this is to facilitate the extraction of coal in the future for use by heritage steam locomotives.”

The proposal split opinion as there were 15 objections and 14 people writing in support.

A summary of the positive comments in the report included: ‘This mine will produce the best coal for steam locomotives in the UK, where there is none mined at present’.

‘The application is for a very small scale operation to meet the needs of a steam locomotive, which provides a tourism interest.

‘Any production from this mine will not increase the overall consumption of coal in the UK, it will only displace these imports from overseas.’

The concerns by objectors highlighted in the report included ‘no economic benefit for the area and nothing to outweigh the environmental impacts’, ‘contrary to Government and council net zero targets’ and ‘coal will be low quality because so shallow’.

For some it was a matter of principle. For example, in a follow-up to her initial submission, Widdrington Station resident Rosemary Thompson said: “It has been suggested that this is NIMBYism by people who live on Mile Road, but I wish to point out that I object to coal mining taking place anywhere because of the climate emergency and the need to safeguard this wonderful planet for our children, grandchildren and future generations.”

The reasons for refusal outlined by the council included ‘the height and scale of the mining apparatus would have a visually obtrusive and overbearing impact on the residents of Widdrington Station’ and ‘the principle of the proposal cannot be supported due to a lack of evidence provided to ensure that there will be no impacts on the local community or environment’.