Protesters form a human chain in a bid to stop mining
PROTESTERS lay down in the road and formed a human chain to stop the delivery of tarmac to an opencast mine.
They blocked the road in front of Tynedale Roadstone Depot on the Newburn Haugh Industrial Estate in Newcastle.
They peldged to remain all day to stop tarmac and machinery being delivered to the Bradley Opencast site, near Consett.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said officers were on the scene speaking to staff and protesters.
Mining firm Banks Group plans to open the mine in Dipton and extract 500,000 tonnes of coal.
The company said it has started and is upgrading the existing road.
One protestor said: “Opencast coal mining causes catastrophic climate change and hurts communities.
“We’re here to support the communities who have been fighting a long battle to save the precious Pont Valley - by stopping the tarmac and machines which are meant to build the access road.”
The latest protest comes after police and bailiffs evicted activists who set up camp at the site in April.
Protester Suzanne Leigh, of Dipton, said: “If Banks think we’re going to leave them be, they can think again. Local people have fought for thirty years to keep this Valley green, keep the air breathable, and keep fossil fuels under the ground.
“In that time this country has moved past coal. Coal is our heritage but the valley is the asset we value.”
Banks Mining extended a programme of works around the site to include the reconstruction of a road. Lewis Stokes, com- munity rela- tions manager at The Banks Group, said: “The severe impact of the so called ‘Beast from the East’ and the rest of the winter weather on roads around the North East is all too obvious.
“It makes sense for us to carry out these additional roads repairs while we have the equipment and manpower in the local area, and we’re glad to be supporting Durham County Council drive to keep the county roads in the best possible condition.”
Banks Mining say the opencast mine will create 30 new jobs when it is fully operational, along with others in the local supply chain. has Protester Suzanne Leigh