Sajid Javid MP

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Fry Building

2 Marsham Street

London

SW1P 4DP

Dear Sajid,

RE: Requesting call-in of opencast coal mine approved at Druridge Bay

I am writing to you to express my concerns about the Highthorn opencast coal mine, at Druridge Bay in Northumberland, which Northumberland County Council approved on 5th July 2016.

I join a number of other MPs - including the local MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan and the Shadow Energy Secretary Barry Gardiner - in asking you to strongly consider calling the decision in and rejecting the development.

This is on the basis that the development conflicts with national policy in terms of the Government’s commitment to (and imminent consultation on) phasing out coal and the recent Paris Agreement. If we are to avoid global warming breaching 2 degrees – let alone the 1.5 degree goal adopted at Paris – we need to leave at least 80% of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground. A national commitment to rapidly phasing out coal power stations contradicts arguments made in the planning application for the mine relating to the ‘need for coal’.

The beauty and rich ecology of Druridge Bay means it is a site of national importance and is of greater than local significance – the mine would be dug right next to the Cresswell Ponds SSSI, and adjacent to the Northumberland Shore SSSI, Marine Conservation Zone and Special Protection Area. The opencast mine proposal was opposed by the National Trust, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and RSPB, as well as conservationist Bill Oddie and Dame Fiona Reynolds, former head of the National Trust, none of whom were satisfied by the applicant’s proposals for mitigating the impact of the mine on local wildlife.

There was enormous public opposition to this proposal, with over 10,000 written objections lodged locally and from around the UK. In addition to this, 11,000 Northumberland residents signed an NGO petition opposing it and a further 5,000 signed a petition on the council’s own website. The application has generated considerable press and broadcast media interest. Yet the Council saw fit to allow objectors a mere 5 minutes total to speak. This demonstrates the national controversy over this application.

The officers’ report had to be changed 15 minutes prior to the planning meeting to reflect independent legal advice passed to the councillors by Friends of the Earth, which showed that – contrary to the officers’ statement – there were multiple material planning grounds for objecting to the development.

If it goes ahead, this mine will fly in the face of the role the UK should be playing as a global leader on climate change and undermines the will of the local residents who opposed it. I urge you to strongly consider calling the decision in and reject the development.

I would be happy to meet with you to discuss this further.

Yours sincerely,