COALFIELDS’ 40 YEARS OF HURT
Ex-mining hubs still ‘playing catch-up’
DEVASTATED former mining communities are still falling behind the rest of Britain decades after pit closures, a charity has warned.
Speaking 40 years after the miners’ strike, The Coalfields Regeneration Trust, says towns and villages have been let down by a lack of investment.
The comments came as a BBC poll in Britain’s former mining heartlands found 73% of people felt they had seen little of the Tory’s £15billion promise to level up “everyone, everywhere”.
And they are still suffering a lack of jobs since losing an industry that once employed more than 220,000 people.
Former miner, grandad-of-four Kevin Horne, 75, who lives in Mexborough, South Yorks, said: “When I left school in Rawmarsh there were seven pits within five or six miles. Now there’s only one growing industry – narcotics, unfortunately, or call centres where they answer telephones all day long.”
He said after the mines were closed all the pit houses were sold off to liveaway landlords and fell into disrepair.
Darren Wood, 49, who lives in the ex-mining village of Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, told the BBC he had been looking for work for five years.
The single dad of two said: “You can apply for stuff, check your emails and you don’t get any replies.
“They don’t get back to you, not even a ‘No, sorry you’re not suitable or been successful’. It does grind you down.”
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike when workers came above ground to fight the plans to shut the pits down. And 57% of the 2,426 polled in England, Scotland and
They still have a wealth of untapped potential
CRT BOSS GARY ELLIS ON FORMER COALFIELDS
Wales said there is still a lack of any suitable jobs in their area.
CRT chief executive Gary Ellis said: “The challenges facing the former coalfields are not consigned to the history books, they exist today and action is needed now to create a brighter future for these communities.
“There have been many positive changes but we have seen some of the initial progress go into reverse, such as the economic gap between the former coalfields and the rest of the UK doubling between 2004 and 2020.
“The former coalfields have a wealth of untapped opportunity and if it is realised, [they] can play a role in helping the country reach its potential.”
Linda McAvan, chair of the CRT, said: “The strike was 40 years ago. In that time some things have got better – land has been cleared up – but we see the gap widening between the coalfields and the other parts of the UK.”
The BBC’s Survation poll involved adults aged 18 to 64 who live in former mining areas. Only 16% of the survey’s respondents said there had been progress on levelling up their area.
Some 49% of respondents with children were worried about their child’s prospects of getting a job locally.
Sir Steve Houghton, leader of Barnsley Council, said: “Mining communities are still playing catch-up.
“The damage that was done – economic as well as social – was huge. That takes generations to pull back.
“[The Government] need to focus on the areas that need it most if you are going to level up. And it needs to be a long strategy, a 20-year investment.”