ISR Director Prof Paul Ekins acts as expert witness in campaign against Dewley Hill coal mine

Defend Dewley Hill and Coal Action Network celebrated Christmas early with their win against the Banks Group’s proposal to extract coal from the area. Members of Newcastle City Council voted to reject the application due to various contraventions of the Newcastle Development and Allocations Plan 2015-2030. Local group Defend Dewley Hill were delighted by the result after numerous actions against the application and letters outlining worries that the Planning Officer’s report underestimated the impact on climate change. 

Institute for Sustainable Resources Director Professor Paul Ekins acted as an expert witness in the opposition to the Banks Groups’ proposal. 

Professor Paul Ekins said:

“New coal mines in the UK are completely inconsistent with the Government’s target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Local campaigners are to be congratulated for making the case and Newcastle City Council for recognising it. This is in stark contrast to the recent action of the UK Government in effectively allowing a new coal mine to go ahead in Cumbria.”

There are currently no other applications for new opencast coal mines in the UK (the Cumbria proposal is a deep mine). Find out more about this successful campaign.