The UK’s High Court has overturned plans for the country’s first deep coal mine in over 30 years. Legal action was initiated by two campaign groups challenging the previous government’s approval of the Woodhouse Colliery mine, which was granted planning permission in 2022. Located on a brownfield site southwest of Whitehaven in West Cumbria, the project, developed by West Cumbria Mining, was estimated to cost around £165 million. Plans for the mine were first introduced in 2014 and faced criticism from opposition parties, climate activists, and the UK’s independent climate advisory board.
Friends of the Earth (FOTE) and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) contested the approval, arguing that the government had only assessed the environmental impact of operating the mine, neglecting the consequences of burning the extracted coal.
On September 13, Justice Holgate ruled that the previous government’s assumption that the mine would not increase greenhouse gas emissions was “legally flawed.” West Cumbria Mining had claimed the project would have a net neutral effect on global emissions, asserting the potential to develop a “unique” net zero mine. In July, the newly elected Labour government cited an “error in law” for its decision not to defend the mine’s approval.