High Court rules building of new coal mine cannot go ahead after claims that it would be carbon-neutral are proven false
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A High Court judge has ruled that previous planning permission given to West Cumbria Mining to open a new coal mine should be quashed following a review. The initial planning permission – given back in 2022 by Michael Gove, the previous Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housings and Communities – was deemed to be unlawful in several ways.
West Cumbria Mining said that its new coal mine – set to be built in Whitehaven in Cumbria – would be a ‘perfect substitution’, meaning the build would not add any greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This is due to the company’s belief that metallurgical coal would not increase, and so if coal were mined in Cumbria, precisely the same amount of coal would inevitably be left unmined elsewhere in the world.
But the ruling made today by Mr Justice Holgate highlights this claim was unsupported by evidence at the public inquiry and findings of the Inspector or Secretary of State. Such inconsistencies were also continued by the company’s own experts – who could not ascertain if there would be no increase in total coal consumed if the mine was to be opened.
It was the misuse of this ‘perfect substitution’ claim that had led to ‘muddle’ in Gove’s decision, according to the ruling. The Court also found a clear potential negative impact on the UK’s climate diplomacy, which was ignored. Today’s judgement means any claims that fuels would ‘substitute’ for other fossil fuel sources must be robustly assessed in the Environmental Statement – simple assertions will no longer be adequate.
Opposition for the new coal mine has been made clear by South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) and Friends of the Earth since its early stages, who presented comprehensive evidence at the Public Inquiry in 2021, and launched legal challenges of Gove’s decision last year.
‘Today’s detailed and well-reasoned ruling clearly shows the logical flaws that infected the grant of permission for the mine and deserves close reading; it exposes the fallacies that led to the conclusion that this mine was ‘carbon neutral”, said a partner at Richard Buxton Solicitors representing South Lakes Action on Climate Change, Matthew McFeeley.
The Whitehaven coal mine planning permission was first deemed unlawful on 10 July after the Finch judgement – a ruling by the Supreme Court that Surrey County Council acted unlawfully by giving planning permission for oil production in Surrey countryside without considering climate impacts.
‘West Cumbria Mining has been roundly defeated today, and the phasing out of fossil fuels has taken a small step forward,’ said South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) Trustee, Duncan Pollard.
‘In the future, developers will have to do a genuine assessment of climate harms from any new fossil fuel extraction and enable proper public consultation. Our small charity is delighted to have helped achieve this important result.’
