Coal mine: High Court judge throws out project in Whitehaven, West Cumbria

The decision to approve the UK’s first coal mine for 30 years has been blocked by a High Court judge.

Today’s ruling likely forces Angela Rayner, the Labour government’s housing, communities and local government secretary, to reconsider the planning application for the mine – this time taking into account the full damage it could do to the climate.

At the hearing in July, the newly elected government had already decided not to defend the previous Conservative administration’s decision to greenlight the project, following new legal developments.

The future of the proposed mine is now uncertain.

Project developer West Cumbria Mining has not confirmed its next step, saying it will “consider the implications of the High Court judgement”.

It could choose to withdraw its application, or seek to appeal against the High Court’s decision.

It suggests a landmark case in June has paved the way for successful legal challenges against new fossil fuel extraction projects in the UK.

In the June case, the UK’s highest Supreme Court ruled that the environmental damage from burning coal, oil and gas must be taken into account when deciding whether to approve new fossil fuel projects.

Niall Toru, senior lawyer for Friends of the Earth, which helped bring the case, called it “a huge victory for our environment”.

He said the ruling against the project “could have ramifications internationally”, as there are cases abroad being challenged on similar grounds.

The Whitehaven mine application argues it would create up to 500 jobs and provide coking coal for the steel industry.

There were always questions about whether the coal was suitable for UK steelworks, and since then the UK market has declined, with Tata Steel this week moving ahead with plans to switch to greener methods.

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The troubled history of the Whitehaven coal mine plans

Today’s High Court decision is just the latest step in a dramatic saga.

Boris Johnson’s government approved the coal mine in December 2022, not long after it had lobbied other countries to ditch coal when it hosted the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

It was the first new coal extraction project to be approved in the UK for 30 years, promising local jobs, but “condemned” by top climate advisers.

Campaigners Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) took the government to court over the decision, arguing it had failed to take into account the full climate impact of the mine.

Its future was thrown into further doubt this year when another fossil fuel project being challenged on similar grounds was shot down.

In June the Supreme Court ruled the Horse Hill oil site in Surrey had been approved unlawfully.

It said the assessment of its environmental damage should have taken into account the emissions from burning the fossil fuel, not just from extracting it.

Weeks later, the new Labour government dropped its defence of the coal mine, saying it had initially been approved due to an “error of law”.

However, West Cumbria Mining still wanted to fight for the project and the court case went ahead.

This was the first similar case since the June ruling to test whether it had set a precedent.

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