Banks Mining given High Court approval to challenge rejection of Northumberland coal facility

North East employer Banks Mining has been given the go-ahead to fight a decision by former Secretary of State Sajid Javid to reject its Highthorn surface mine planning application.

The challenge will take place this autumn, after a High Court judge ruled that the business has an arguable claim.

Banks Mining, headquartered in County Durham, gained approval from Northumberland County Council for the Highthorn planning application in July 2016.

But the decision was subsequently called in for review by the then Department for Communities and Local Government. The review led to a public inquiry into the project last year.

According to Banks Mining, Mr Javid disregarded the recommendation of the planning inspector that the Highthorn scheme should go ahead.

Banks Mining lodged a challenge to this decision with the High Court, on the grounds that serious errors appear in the legal basis on which it was made.

The Honourable Mr Justice Ouseley has now formally granted permission for the challenge, concluding that the appeal was “an arguable case”. The date of Wednesday October 17 is set for what is due to be a two-day hearing.

If it goes ahead, the Highthorn scheme could see Banks Mining create at least 100 full-time jobs on site and invest £87m in the Northumberland economy.

It also promises to keep £200m within the UK economy by not importing three million tonnes of coal that would otherwise come from suppliers overseas, and to make supply chain contracts worth £48m available to local businesses.

Banks Mining MD Gavin Styles said in a statement: “We are very pleased that our belief that we had solid grounds for this challenge has now been formally recognised and are looking forward to presenting what we feel is a strong case for quashing the Highthorn decision.

“The approach adopted in reaching it could have far-reaching, unintended consequences for all hydrocarbon extraction industries such as coal, gas and oil, including the shale gas industry, as well as other sectors of the minerals extractive industries and major infrastructure developments, such as road, rail and air projects, and could significantly impact on UK industry’s competitiveness against overseas rivals.”

He continued: “While we fully recognise and accept that there needs to be a stable transition to a low carbon economy, and are indeed already working successfully within the framework which is driving the phased reduction of coal from the electricity generating system, the fact remains that there will remain a clear and recognised need for coal during this phase out period.”

Speaking further, Mr Styles commented: “If we do not domestically produce our own coal for things like steel, cement, food and electricity production, we will simply be forced to import more from places like Russia, the US and Colombia.

“Supporting skilled British jobs, delivering regional environmental and conservation enhancements, avoiding the carbon emissions caused by importing the coal supplies that the UK still needs, and providing a secure domestic supply of energy by meeting our continuing need for coal through domestic reserves makes far greater sense than relying on coal and gas imports from potentially-unstable overseas markets that are thousands of miles away.”

Banks Mining said its challenge is based on the Secretary of State misdirecting himself over the meaning of paragraph 149 of the National Planning Policy Framework, relating to the environmental acceptability of mining proposals (that is, the planning conditions and obligations that allow for the approval of such projects and their national, local or community benefits).

The company believes that the Secretary of State departed from the meaning and intention of this paragraph. It also contends that the decision wrongly takes into account greenhouse gas emissions from the ultimate use of coal, as opposed to its production – a departure from a clear line of previous planning decisions on the same point, according to Banks Mining.

Gavin Styles said: “In 2017, coal demand in the UK was 14.4 million tonnes, 8.7 million tonnes of which was used for electricity generation and the remainder within a wide variety of important domestic foundation industries, such as the manufacture of cement and steel.

“Even though this is a record low for coal generation, this demand is five times more than the UK is able to supply and nearly twenty times the planned annual production at Highthorn, with the shortfall being met by a doubling of coal imports from Russia and a quadrupling of imports from the US.

“Coal’s position in the UK’s energy balance is still very important, a fact demonstrated by around 25% of the electricity used during the severe weather caused by the ‘Beast from the East’ being generated through its use, and it will continue to be so over the period of transition to a low carbon generation network.

“The Secretary of State’s misguided decision would make us ever more reliant on energy imports, as well as more vulnerable to both price rises and supply interruptions, the consequences of which will inevitably be rising prices for both domestic and industrial consumers.

“The Planning Inspector, after a detailed and lengthy inquiry, concluded that ‘the national benefits of the proposal would clearly outweigh the likely adverse impacts,’ which backs up the unanimous support we had for the Highthorn scheme from an experienced, cross-party Northumberland County Council planning committee.

“We have been investing in Northumberland for four decades, and remain as keen as we’ve always been to extend this commitment still further.”