Cumbria coal mine legal challenge hearing postponed

The two groups bringing challenges against the mine, Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC), were due to appear before the High Court on 24-26 October.

The environmental campaign groups oppose the government’s decision to grant planning permission for West Cumbria Mining’s controversial Woodhouse Colliery project. The new underground mine would extract metallurgical coal, or coking coal, mainly for steel production. Following the announcement in December of last year, a GE survey revealed that the geotechnical industry was split about the decision, with 53% agreeing and 47% disagreeing with it, out of 249 votes.

The “rolled-up” hearing has now been postponed. It will be rescheduled once the Supreme Court has handed down its judgment on a “landmark case” over Surrey County Council’s decision to allow oil drilling at Horse Hill in Surrey.

The challenge, brought by campaigner Sarah Finch on behalf of the Weald Action Group and supported by Friends of Earth, was heard by the Supreme Court in June.

Finch’s lawyers argued that the environmental impact assessment carried out by developers before planning permission was granted should have accounted for the climate impact, or Scope 3 “downstream” emissions, from burning the oil extracted at Horse Hill.

If the Supreme Court rules that decision-makers need to take into consideration downstream emissions before approving planning applications, the outcome of the Horse Hill case could have implications for the future of the Cumbria coal mine.

Friends of the Earth said in a recent statement that the outcome of this separate legal challenge could “potentially open up new grounds for lawyers to argue against the mine's approval” and set a “precedent for decisions on approving fossil fuel developments” overall.

The Supreme Court is not expected to give its judgment until this autumn at the earliest.

This will be followed by the High Court setting a new date for the Cumbria coal mine hearing, but there is likely to be a gap of at least ten weeks between judgment and hearing. This could take the hearing date into next year.

Friends of the Earth lawyer Niall Toru said: “We’re pleased the court has decided to delay the Whitehaven hearing - the Horse Hill case could set a critical legal precedent. Companies looking to extract fossil fuels shouldn’t be allowed to disregard the full impacts of their actions. It’s like a tobacco company saying it can ignore the health impacts of smoking.

“The government’s decision to approve the mine, like much of its recent rhetoric, is completely at odds with our climate commitments, and has left the UK’s reputation on climate in tatters. We will be following the outcome of the Horse Hill challenge very closely, and look forward to the day our case can go to trial.”

In a recent update on its website, West Cumbria Mining said: “At this stage it is unclear how long it will take for the Supreme Court to issue their judgement; however, we do not expect the delay to be very significant. WCM will provide further updates as we receive them from the High Court.

“In the meantime, WCM continues to progress the pre-start work required, including design, planning, equipment procurement and associated desk-based work.”