New pit for Cumbria mine site?

PLANS to bring coalmining back to Cumbria have been unveiled 30 years after its last pit’s winding gear fell silent.

The company behind the ambitious project aims to create more than 500 jobs and dig out around two million tonnes of coal a year from under the Irish Sea.

If it gets planning permission, the pit could begin extracting coking coal off the coast of St Bees in 2019 – shipping it to the surface by conveyor belt.

West Cumbria Mining ( WCM), which has received around £15 million of Australian investment, says it has already received more than 150 job applications from people in the area.

The proposed site is next to the old Haig Colliery, which was the last deep mine in the Cumberland coalfield.

It closed its gates in 1986 with the loss of 3500 jobs after more than 70 years of coal production.

The plans were revealed during open days at the company’s HQ at the former mining museum near Whitehaven.

The planning application is expected to be submitted in January.

The company says that one of its objectives is to use “the wealth of knowledge” that exists in the area, where mining can be traced back to the year 1256.

It believes there is a vast reserve of more than 750 million tonnes of coal still waiting to be exploited.

WCM project manager Kevin Murphy has said that at least 80% of the jobs created during construction and operation will go to local people.

Helen Davies, communications manager at WCM, said: “We urge people to review our plans before they are submitted.”