Activists unfurl banners across Cumbria in opposition to coal mine

The banners were put up by the new anti-coal action group, No Time for a Coal Mine, as the latest effort to oppose the proposed new coal mine near Whitehaven.

The proposed mine, which is expected to extract 2.8 million tonnes of coal each year for use in steelmaking, has faced significant opposition from local, national, and international groups. 

The issue has also gained attention as the House of Lords narrowly backed a ban on the opening of new coal mines in April this year. 

Banner unveiled at Devils Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale (Image: Supplied)

Sarah McGowan, who was born in Whitehaven and took part in the action said: "We can all see the impacts of climate change.

"In Cumbria, the summer has been a washout since June, while on the Hawaiian island of Maui people escaped firestorms by jumping into the sea.

"Meanwhile the IPCC has said we simply cannot afford to permit any new coal mines, the UK government is flying in the face of reason.

"Our banners show the strength of feeling against the coal mine and our determination to keep the coal in the ground.

"The mine must be stopped," she said. 

Banner shares the message in Penrith (Image: Supplied)

The West Cumbrian mine has backing from local Conservative MPs including Copeland’s Trudy Harrison and Workington’s Mark Jenkinson.

Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Against Climate Change (SLACC) launched legal challenges in January against the mine after Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, gave planning permission to the new coking mine in December 2022.

A High Court judge gave the go-ahead for their two legal challenges over the government’s decision, the hearing will last for three days and is to take place in October.