Telford & Wrekin Council has agreed to carry out a full scale health assessment into any potential risks from UK Coal’s plans for opencast mining close to The Wrekin.
Telford & Wrekin Council has agreed to carry out a full scale health assessment into any potential risks from UK Coal’s plans for opencast mining close to The Wrekin.
The council has taken on board a recommendation from the local director of public health, Dr Catherine Woodward, who had recommended the investigation.
UK Coal has submitted hugely controversial plans to extract 900,000 tonnes of coal at Huntington Lane, near The Ercall, for use in power stations in Ironbridge and Rugeley.
Local campaigners and environmentalists are fighting the proposals.
A spokesman for the council said: “Telford & Wrekin Council can confirm that head of planning, Michael Barker, has received a letter from the Primary Care Trust recommending that a health impact assessment be carried out in connection with the UK Coal application.
“Following receipt of the letter the council has met with Simon Connolly, chief executive of the PCT and agreed to plan out the scope and content of such a study.
“The scoping report would identify how the study could best be carried out, how it should be undertaken and the time scale required to do the work.
“The work would be done with the close involvement of the council`s own environmental health officers. The work is at an early stage and we will be looking carefully at what needs to be done. We will be working closely in partnership with the PCT in planning the best way forward.”
Objector Pat Judson, of Friends of The Ercall, said: “We are extremely pleased that the PCT has now fallen in with this. It is a major public concern and we are very happy that this is gong to be carried out.
“We requested this way back at our first public meeting in March. We wrote to Dr Catherine Woodward, director of public health for Telford & Wrekin, and asked for the Friends of the Ercall to have an input.
“It’s a major step forward in the campaign against UK Coal. We’ve fought for this now for quite a considerable amount of time. We’ve had to put pressure on but we are pleased that this is the way they are looking to go forward.
“It’s a matter of urgency. It has to be done before UK Coal’s planning application goes to the council for consideration.
“We still don’t have a date from the council for when it will be decided.
“We will be stepping up our campaign from next week. We have permission from Tesco [in Wellington Retail Park] to distribute flyers and we will have a display.”
UK Coal claims the project would make safe an area riddled with dangerous old mine workings, create jobs and help the economy.
