Opposition to Cumbria Coal Mine: Redetermination

Richard Buxton Solicitors was instructed by South Lakes Action Against Climate Change – Towards Transition (SLACC) to continue legal opposition to the proposed new underground coal mine near Whitehaven, Cumbria.  After the recent successful claim in the High Court by our clients and Friends of the Earth, we responded on SLACC’s behalf to the Secretary of State’s invitation to make submissions on what further information is necessary to lawfully consider the mine proposal and what other new circumstances may lead to new evidence being needed.  After these representations the applicant for permission, West Cumbria Mining, confirmed to the Secretary of State that it was formally withdrawing the application.

In brief summary, our detailed letter (available in full below) set out that: 

• Significant new environmental information is required as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment process setting out the climate impacts of the mine, including the extent of the emissions from the combustion of the coal and a proper assessment of their significance. These emissions were found by the High Court to be an inevitable effect of the mine that must be assessed by the applicant. 

• If the applicant continues to assert that emissions resulting from the use of the coal will allegedly be offset by other mines elsewhere reducing production (so-called ‘substitution’) it must provide detailed information on how any claimed reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to substitution will be caused by the opening of the mine and show that this meets the test for legal causation (See High Court Judgment para 115). 

• The High Court found that information on the deliverability of any carbon offsets relied upon by the applicant is something the Secretary of State will need to consider, and is something the applicant will need to provide information on (as well as whether the mine’s use of these could have harmful impacts on other businesses by reducing their availability). 

• The conclusions of Secretary of State Gove and the Inspector indicated that there would be a need in the UK and Europe for the coal until ‘at least 2040’, but this is now clearly wrong, with both major UK steelworks having made commitments to transition to electric arc furnaces and a significant shift towards green steel-making technology in Europe (and beyond).   

• Many other new circumstances have arisen since the decision by Secretary Gove including (but not limited to): findings by the UK Coal Authority casting doubt on the financial viability of the mine and finding that the risk of subsidence from the mine had not been adequately assessed by the applicant, information about the quality of the coal not being as high as understood by Secretary Gove, and new information calling into question the feasibility of the mine’s proposals to capture methane. 

• Finally, importantly, the letter notes that the Coal Authority has now declined to grant the applicant a coal mining license, and the government has indicated it will not grant coal mining licenses for any new coal mines. The applicant must address this seemingly insurmountable hurdle before the Secretary of State gives further consideration to the application to avoid wasting time and resources on a project that cannot practically proceed.  

Richard Buxton Solicitors has been instructed by SLACC to assist with opposition to the mine since 2019 and its work led then-Secretary of State Sajid Javid to call in the mine for determination by an inquiry. RBS represented SLACC throughout the 4-week inquiry (and through to the conclusion of the High Court claim).  

On 4 April, 2025, the Secretary of State informed SLACC, Friends of the Earth, and the local Councils that the application had been formally withdrawn.

Instructed counsel are Estelle Dehon KC and Rowan Clapp of Cornerstone Barristers.