Local people, in and around the proposed Minorca Opencast site between Measham and Swepstone in Leicestershire are fed up with waiting for a decision to be made on UK Coal’s application. They are to launch a petition which will be submitted to Leicestershire County Council to be considered by its Development Control and Regulatory Board meeting on June 17th. The petition will ask that this Board not to postpone making a decision for a 7th time, but to determine this application at its following meeting on July 15th.

By that date, local residents will have been waiting for a year since the formal application was submitted. Then for twenty months local householders wishing to sell their property because of changes in circumstances that were foreseen ( retirement) or unforeseen (loss of employment) for example have had to declare UK Coal’s interest.

More details about the petition, which will shortly be launched by the Minorca Opencast Protest Group (MOPG), will include where people can sign the petition will follow shortly. Steve Leary, MOPG’s Spokesperson said

“It is time to end the uncertainty caused by not knowing what the decision is on this application. Local people’s lives have already been affected by this proposal. They have lived with this prospect for well over a year now. They like me are the innocent victims in all of this who will never be compensated for the worry and stress this application has already caused, let alone be getting any direct compensation if this application eventually gains approval.

Leicestershire County Council has to work a planning system which operates according to national rules and circumscribes their level of discretionary power. One thing they do have discretion over, however, is that they can make a decision about this application on the basis of the information available to them. After waiting for over a year by July 3rd it is this we are urging LCC to do on July 15th. We think, given the circumstances, a year’s wait is long enough for local people, who in the main, like the rest of us, just want the freedom to get on with their lives without this unnecessary worry".

More information on the Petition and recent developments in our campaign can be found in the 24th issue of the Minorca Protest News at

 http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/the-most-recent-issues-of-minorc.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PRESS RELEASE CONTACT:
STEVE LEARY, SPOKESPERSON, MOPG .
4 GREENFIELD ROAD, MEASHAM, SWADLINCOTE, DERBYSHIRE DE12 7LB, tel 05601 767981, email  steve46leary@googlemail.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MOPG PLEASE GO TO:
 http://www.mopg.co.uk or
 http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/minorca-protest.html