County council to reconsider Cumbria coalmine application

Planning proposal for project near Whitehaven has faced widespread opposition from environmentalists

The future of a proposed coalmine in Cumbria has been thrown into doubt after an abrupt U-turn by the county council, which will now reconsider planning permission for the mine in the light of the government's greenhouse gas targets.

Cumbria county council granted planning permission to the mine last October, and last month the communities and local government secretary, Robert Jenrick, decided not to call in" the mine for a central government decision. That set the stage for West Cumbria Mining to press ahead with plans for the UK's first new deep coalmine in three decades, at Woodhouse Colliery, near Whitehaven.