Delayed: Ministers postpone decision on first new coal mine in 30 years
The government has postponed a decision over whether to approve a new coal mine for steel production in Cumbria.
An announcement was expected by Thursday, however organisations concerned with the project have been informed the decision has been halted, according to the PA news agency.
If opened, the site near Whitehaven would be the first new deep coal mine opened in the UK for over thirty years. Woodhouse Colliery could be the UK’s first new deep mine for three decades.
The mine will be used to source coking coal for steel-making.
Steel manufacturing is set for continued protections, including an extension on tariffs for Chinese imports, with the Government considering the domestic industry of strategic importance.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told the BEIS select committee in Westminster last week that there was a “strong argument” for Britain to invest in supporting domestic steel manufacturing.
He explained: “Free trade is all very well, but if everyone else is supporting a strategic industry, I think there is a strong argument in this country for doing so.”
Kwarteng said that all G7 nations have steel industries supported by their domestic governments and that there was a clear national interest in protecting the sector and not relying on overseas suppliers.
This was especially the case for building tanks or military hardware, where governments don’t want to enter a “free trade international market depending on China.”
Kwarteng concluded: “I would hate to see Britain where we didn’t produce any steel and were reliant completely on the international market, and when we needed to make the steel then we had no capacity.”
The mine was previously approved by Cumbria County Council in October 2020, but the decision was suspended weeks later following guidance from the CCC and then the Planning Inspectorate was tasked with examining the arguments.
Its report was handed to the government earlier this year and a deadline of 7 July was set for a decision by the communities secretary Michael Gove.