The Future is Bright Underground For West Cumbria Mining
The most visible signs of progress are underway, in the mission to bring mining back to West Cumbria.
It’s a pivotal year for the team at West Cumbria Mining, with a number of major elements reaching fruition since work started back in June 2014. Having submitted their planning application at the end of May to Cumbria County Council, WCM are seeking approval for the construction of the new Woodhouse Colliery on the former Marchon chemical works site.
May also saw the commencement of the next phase of WCM’s exploration programme, with a large offshore jack-up barge to undertake offshore drilling to recover coal in the key offshore mining areas.
The team have been busy from summer 2014, when it all began, undertaking a programme of exploration and technical design work; all focused upon the construction of a large scale, state-of-the-art underground metallurgical coal mine. The mine will produce high quality coal for use in the production of steel for the UK and European markets.
WCM is set to host three days of public update events in June, following on from the success of previous events. The last one in March, saw exceptional levels of attendance and a great response from the local community.
Communications Manager, Helen Davies said: “Over the last three years, WCM has carried out extensive local public engagement, in an open and honest manner to establish both the Project and the Company within the local community and businesses within West Cumbria.”
She added: “Feedback from these events has helped to shape the project in many ways including; transportation of the final product, the location of the mine, mine design and methods of communication with the public.”
The next series of public events, will run from Friday 23 June to Sunday 25, 10am – 4pm and will be held at the company’s offices in the former Haig Museum. The final designs for the mine facilities, including the rail loading facility and underground conveyor route, will be on display along with a video animation showing the entire process from mining through to process and rail loadout. A full copy of the planning documents will also be available for review.
The events are open to all members of the public over the course of the three days and the WCM team will be on hand to answer questions. Information will be provided at the event on how individuals can write letters of support or express any objections to Cumbria County Council who will be handling the planning application.
WCM will also host its first Supplier Day on Wednesday 12 July, at the same location, to enable local contractors and small businesses to find out more about being involved in the construction phase of the project.
If the project is successful in obtaining planning approvals from Cumbria County Council, construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2018. This would then see the creation of over 500 direct jobs for skilled and semi-skilled workers with 80% of these earmarked for local people plus an apprenticeship scheme and community fund.
The next public update open days take place from 23 – 25 June, 10am – 4pm at the former Haig Museum. For more information visit www.westcumbriamining.com or contact 01946 848333
