UK Coal plc's reaction to MOPG's "UK Coal :An Independent Report" is outlined along with UK Coal plc's response to a letter MOPG sent to UK Coal about the length of time the Minorca Opencast Site Application was taking.
NO INACCURACIES - BUT REPORT CONDEMNED BY UK COAL plc !
Our recently published report “UK Coal plc: An Alternative Report” (1) was criticised by UK Coal’s Media Spokesperson Stuart Oliver when a reporter questioned him about the report. The reporter, Julian Thorpe, was writing an article on the report, which featured the controversy surrounding UK Coal plc’s Cutacre opencast site in Bolton. His eventual story “Cutacre acts as a warning to all” (2) published in The Bolton News included the following statement
“Mr Oliver condemned the MOPG report, calling it a “hotch-potch of half- truths, lies and make-believe”, ALTHOUGH HE WAS UNABLE TO PIN POINT ANY SPECIFIC INACCURACIES” (MOPG’s emphasis).
The Minorca Protest News had reported on ‘The Cutacre Saga’ in issue 21, when it published an extract from the report that explained why this site was so controversial. The other interesting development is that UK Coal plc removed access to their ‘Project Worth’ presentation originally made on 7/11/06 from their web site. This was another issue that the MOPG report criticised. However MOPG printed off a hard copy before it was removed.
In addition, to support the claim made by MOPG in the report that UK Coal plc create conflict between themselves local communities and local authorities, Leicestershire County Council have now given the company three months notice to start restoring the Lounge site near Ashby de la Zouch or else the Council will be seeking a court order to force the sites restoration.(3). The history of the controversy surrounding this site had also been highlighted in MOPG’s report on UK Coal plc.
Has UK Coal plc shown MOPG members and supporters any more respect in answering our letter asking for a date when their 400 page Supplementary Planning document would be submitted? Have they given us an apology for the delay? Their reply confirmed that our claim that coal stockpiles at generating stations were on the increase because of the recession and cheaper gas prices, all claims MOPG had made in the letter we had sent them. The reply also claimed that UK Coal plc could sell every tonne of coal they produce. They are still pursuing the application but
“We cannot say at this stage when the consultation process with all the statutory consultees will be concluded” (4)
We requested that UK Coal offered local people an apology for the delay. NO APOLOGY HAS BEEN OFFERED, even though, when compared to the Long Moor application, this application has already taken longer for Leicestershire County Council to determine after one round of consultations than the time it had taken for the Council to determine the Long Moor application. That went through three rounds of consultation. UK Coal plc imply that they cannot speed up the application process and as a consequence WE HAVE NO FIRM DATE SET FOR WHEN THIS APPLICATION WILL BE DETERMINED. The truth is that UK Coal can proceed with this application at any time with the case they have already prepared, but they do not want to risk the application being rejected. That is why we are kept waiting!!
So not only do they rubbish a report in which they can find no inaccuracies they also give us no dates by when this will be determined and no apology for the delay.
Steve Leary, MOPG’s Spokesperson said
“I wish the situation was different, that we wrote rubbish reports and UK Coal plc submitted excellent planning submission documents, so that the planning process with regard to the Minorca application could have been over by now. It seems though, that things are the other way round. We write a report in which UK Coal plc can find no inaccuracies on one hand and on the other we point out to UK Coal plc numerous inaccuracies of fact in the planning submission documents they submitted last July.(5) If that had not been the case, we might not be still waiting, eighteen months on from when this process started, for a decision.
In addition we requested at least an apology if not an explanation for the delay in the planning process but we did not get the former and we are none the wiser about the real reason for the delay. When UK Coal plc eventually won permission to mine at Long Moor they promised to
“be a good neighbour” (6)
In our case we now have a very good understanding of what having UK Coal plc as a neighbour actually means in practice – a lack of respect.”
(MOPG's 52nd Press Release)
Notes
1) “UK Coal plc : An Alternative Report,” Steve Leary, MOPG, March 2010, 48pgs available from
http://mopg.co.uk/MOPG-Research-Reports.php
2) “Cutacre acts as a warning for all”, The Bolton News, 24/3/10 http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5079494.Cutacre_acts_as_a_warning_to_all/
3) “Mining company could face court over restoring Leicestershire land”, The Leicester Mercury, 23/3/10. See
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/politics/Mining-company-face-court-restoring-Leicestershire-land/article-1936958-detail/article.html
4) UK Coal plc letter to MOPG dated 11/3/10.
5) “We can undermine opencast plans”, Burton Mail 3/9/09
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/We-can-undermine-opencast-plans.htm
6) “Opencast mine given green light” BBC News 25/6/06 See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/5021834.stm
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
Our recently published report “UK Coal plc: An Alternative Report” (1) was criticised by UK Coal’s Media Spokesperson Stuart Oliver when a reporter questioned him about the report. The reporter, Julian Thorpe, was writing an article on the report, which featured the controversy surrounding UK Coal plc’s Cutacre opencast site in Bolton. His eventual story “Cutacre acts as a warning to all” (2) published in The Bolton News included the following statement
“Mr Oliver condemned the MOPG report, calling it a “hotch-potch of half- truths, lies and make-believe”, ALTHOUGH HE WAS UNABLE TO PIN POINT ANY SPECIFIC INACCURACIES” (MOPG’s emphasis).
The Minorca Protest News had reported on ‘The Cutacre Saga’ in issue 21, when it published an extract from the report that explained why this site was so controversial. The other interesting development is that UK Coal plc removed access to their ‘Project Worth’ presentation originally made on 7/11/06 from their web site. This was another issue that the MOPG report criticised. However MOPG printed off a hard copy before it was removed.
In addition, to support the claim made by MOPG in the report that UK Coal plc create conflict between themselves local communities and local authorities, Leicestershire County Council have now given the company three months notice to start restoring the Lounge site near Ashby de la Zouch or else the Council will be seeking a court order to force the sites restoration.(3). The history of the controversy surrounding this site had also been highlighted in MOPG’s report on UK Coal plc.
Has UK Coal plc shown MOPG members and supporters any more respect in answering our letter asking for a date when their 400 page Supplementary Planning document would be submitted? Have they given us an apology for the delay? Their reply confirmed that our claim that coal stockpiles at generating stations were on the increase because of the recession and cheaper gas prices, all claims MOPG had made in the letter we had sent them. The reply also claimed that UK Coal plc could sell every tonne of coal they produce. They are still pursuing the application but
“We cannot say at this stage when the consultation process with all the statutory consultees will be concluded” (4)
We requested that UK Coal offered local people an apology for the delay. NO APOLOGY HAS BEEN OFFERED, even though, when compared to the Long Moor application, this application has already taken longer for Leicestershire County Council to determine after one round of consultations than the time it had taken for the Council to determine the Long Moor application. That went through three rounds of consultation. UK Coal plc imply that they cannot speed up the application process and as a consequence WE HAVE NO FIRM DATE SET FOR WHEN THIS APPLICATION WILL BE DETERMINED. The truth is that UK Coal can proceed with this application at any time with the case they have already prepared, but they do not want to risk the application being rejected. That is why we are kept waiting!!
So not only do they rubbish a report in which they can find no inaccuracies they also give us no dates by when this will be determined and no apology for the delay.
Steve Leary, MOPG’s Spokesperson said
“I wish the situation was different, that we wrote rubbish reports and UK Coal plc submitted excellent planning submission documents, so that the planning process with regard to the Minorca application could have been over by now. It seems though, that things are the other way round. We write a report in which UK Coal plc can find no inaccuracies on one hand and on the other we point out to UK Coal plc numerous inaccuracies of fact in the planning submission documents they submitted last July.(5) If that had not been the case, we might not be still waiting, eighteen months on from when this process started, for a decision.
In addition we requested at least an apology if not an explanation for the delay in the planning process but we did not get the former and we are none the wiser about the real reason for the delay. When UK Coal plc eventually won permission to mine at Long Moor they promised to
“be a good neighbour” (6)
In our case we now have a very good understanding of what having UK Coal plc as a neighbour actually means in practice – a lack of respect.”
(MOPG's 52nd Press Release)
Notes
1) “UK Coal plc : An Alternative Report,” Steve Leary, MOPG, March 2010, 48pgs available from
http://mopg.co.uk/MOPG-Research-Reports.php 2) “Cutacre acts as a warning for all”, The Bolton News, 24/3/10
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5079494.Cutacre_acts_as_a_warning_to_all/ 3) “Mining company could face court over restoring Leicestershire land”, The Leicester Mercury, 23/3/10. See
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/politics/Mining-company-face-court-restoring-Leicestershire-land/article-1936958-detail/article.html 4) UK Coal plc letter to MOPG dated 11/3/10.
5) “We can undermine opencast plans”, Burton Mail 3/9/09
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/We-can-undermine-opencast-plans.htm 6) “Opencast mine given green light” BBC News 25/6/06 See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/5021834.stm 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 
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