By Rachael Grealish

Support for the proposed Cumbria coalmine has been dropped as the government has now said it was permitted “unlawfully”.

The government has acknowledged that approving a proposed coal mine in Cumbria was unlawful, as the planning decision should have considered the mine’s carbon emissions.

Lawyers for the Secretary of State’s Angela Raynor’s Housing, Communities and Local Government department have said there was an “error in law” in the decision to grant planning permission for the mine in December 2022.

The government’s action comes in response to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the “Finch v Surrey County Council” case, which determined that planning applications for new extraction projects must consider emissions from burning fossil fuels, not just the emissions produced during extraction.

As a result, the government will not be defending two legal challenges next week (16-18 July) against the mine, brought by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).

Instead, it has informed the court that the decision to grant planning permission should be quashed.

If the court agrees, the planning application will return to the Secretary of State for a new decision.

Friends of the Earth climate co-ordinator, Jamie Peters, said:   “We’re delighted the government agrees that planning permission for this destructive, polluting and unnecessary coal mine was unlawfully granted and that it should be quashed. We hope the court agrees, and that the mine is then rejected when the Secretary of State reconsiders the application.

“Friends of the Earth will continue to stand alongside SLACC and the other community groups in Cumbria who have fought so bravely to halt this mine.  

“The new government must now ensure that areas like West Cumbria get the jobs and investment they urgently need so that people living there can reap the benefits of building a clean, green and affordable future.” 

The two legal challenges to the previous decision to grant planning permission for the mine are still expected to take place at the Royal Courts of Justice on July 16, unless West Cumbria Mining concedes.

Maggie Mason of SLACC said: “We argued throughout the Inquiry and this legal claim that the emissions from using the coal were not properly assessed and it is great to see this acknowledged. Our small charity has opposed the mine because of its harmful impacts on the local and global climate, and the appalling precedent created by West Cumbria Mining’s claim that a new coal mine doesn’t increase the global use of coal. 

“Building the mine on an old chemical site close to homes and the Irish Sea was also risky. West Cumbrians deserve jobs that don’t cost the earth”. 

The Herdwick News has contacted the MP for Whitehaven and Workington, Josh MacAlister and West Cumbria Mining for further comment on this.