5OOm Buffer Zone Bill Vote on FridaY

The 2nd reading of the 500m Buffer Zone Bill takes place this Friday. This press release gives information about the reasons why this is an important Bill, provides information about a new Briefing Note (B6) that explains the Bill and provides info about how to get involved.

MOPG PR 97 8/7/11

The 500m Buffer Zone Bill brings hope to Anti-Opencast Mine Campaigners across England

The attention of people in many communities across England will be focussed on the House of Commons this Friday as Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, introduces the 2nd Reading of his Private Members Bill which aims to bring to an end an anomaly which has developed in British planning law in recent years. His “Planning (Opencast Mining Separation Zones) Bill aims to update English planning law so that it matches the policies already operating in Scotland and Wales. Here there is a policy which obliges planning authorities to plan for a 500m Buffer Zone between areas of settlement and opencast mine sites. The intention behind Mr Bridgen’s Bill, is to offer communities in England the same degree of protection, as currently English planning guidance makes no mention of such a requirement.

Now that the details of Mr Bridgen’s Bill have been published, (1) residents of those English counties currently facing the prospect of opencast mining in Northumberland, Co Durham, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire will be closely following events in the House of Commons this Friday when the 2nd reading of what has become known as the 500m Buffer Zone Bill takes place.

The Minorca Opencast Protest Group have also just published a new Briefing Note on the Draft Bill “ The 500m Buffer Zone Bill Explained” which is free to download from:

http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/andrew-bridgens-500m-buffer-zone.html

Steve Leary, a member of the 300 strong Minorca Opencast Protest Group and a constituent of Andrew Bridgend said

“ When Andrew Bridgend begins the 2nd debate on his 500m Buffer Zone Bill it will mark the most important day in the history of opencast mining since a new Labour Government, back in the late 1990’s, introduced a new planning policy for opencast mining based on the presumption not to grant planning permission for new opencast mining sites.

So why do we need this new policy of having a 500m Buffer Zone? Since the late 1990’s, mainly for geological reasons such as exhaustion of deep mine coal seams or for economic reasons, the UK Coal Mining Industry has become more and more reliant on opencast coal as more deep mines have closed , so that now more than 50% of the 20m tonnes of domestic coal produced comes from opencast coal.

The future prospect is this. By far the greatest amount of surface coal reserves that can be open-casted are to be found in England. As minable reserves in Scotland and Wales become exhausted more attention will be paid to the English surface mine reserves. (2)

Conflicts between coal operators and English communities over planning issues are likely to become more widespread as more English applications are forthcoming. These conflicts are more likely for two reasons. According to the British Geological Society most future opencast site applications will not be on Brownfield sites where reclamation and restoring the site for productive purposes will be beneficial. As a consequence, the fact that future opencast planning applications are likely to be on a Greenfield site is the first reason likely to spark conflict. (3)

The other reason lies in the fact that according to the trade body representing the interests of the Coal Operators, CoalPro, of the 450m tonnes of surface mineable coal currently available in England, Mr Bridgen’s Bill is likely to put anywhere between 250m to 400m tonnes of this coal out of reach. This is because so much of this coal lies so near to where people currently live and enjoy a normal life (4). This closeness of people to future opencast coal sites is the second reason why more conflicts can be expected. Andrew Bridgen’s Bill, if passed into law, will stop planning applications for between 48% and 97% of that coal reserve and stop the lives of many thousands of people from being blighted by the prospect of opencast mining. At a stroke, Parliament can safeguard the future happiness of these people by passing this Bill.

This is why this Bill is so important, especially in such a densely populated country as England. That is why this is a national issue and not just our own here in Leicestershire, but potentially, as our recent report indicated, (5) many thousands of people in the Midlands and the North of England are affected as well.”

References

1) Planning (Opencast Mining Separation Zones) Bill @

http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-11/planningopencastminingseparationzones/documents.html

2) For evidence to support this statement see B5) “Climate Change and the 500m Buffer Zone Bill “ Appendix 1

http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/andrew-bridgens-500m-buffer-zone.html

3) “More opencast mine bids ‘likely on greefield sites’, BBC News, 15/8/10 @

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10977640

4) For evidence to support this statement see B5) “Climate Change and the 500m Buffer Zone Bill “ p3

http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/andrew-bridgens-500m-buffer-zone.html

5) To see how many communities are currently and potentially affected see English Opencast Coal Sites 2009 -2010, Part One (B3) Current Sites AND Part Two (B4) Potential Sites @

http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/andrew-bridgens-500m-buffer-zone.html

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CONTACTING ANDREW BRIDGEN MP for NORTH WEST LEICESTERSHIRE

Constituency Office: 6 Elford Street, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1HH, Tel 01530 417736

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