Campaigners vow in Wrekin coal mine fight
Environmental campaigners battling to stop controversial mining plans in the shadow of The Wrekin have vowed to go to the courtroom in a bid to prevent them being thrown off the land.Environmental campaigners battling to stop controversial mining plans in the shadow of The Wrekin have vowed to go to the courtroom in a bid to prevent them being thrown off the land. UK Coal spokesman Stuart Oliver said eviction proceedings were an "inevitability" if the group refused to leave the site voluntarily. Work is due to start to mine 900,000 tonnes of coal on the Huntington Lane site in the next couple of months. But the campaigners have vowed they will not budge and plan to stage a sit-in to stop the work starting. They are now seeking legal advice and bracing themselves for a bitter battle. A protester at the site, who did not want to be named, said: "We are making preparations for the eviction process because that's going to be imminent in the next few weeks, that is now mainly our focus." Read more in the Shropshire Star
Environmental campaigners battling to stop controversial mining plans in the shadow of The Wrekin have vowed to go to the courtroom in a bid to prevent them being thrown off the land.
UK Coal spokesman Stuart Oliver said eviction proceedings were an "inevitability" if the group refused to leave the site voluntarily. Work is due to start to mine 900,000 tonnes of coal on the Huntington Lane site in the next couple of months.
But the campaigners have vowed they will not budge and plan to stage a sit-in to stop the work starting.
They are now seeking legal advice and bracing themselves for a bitter battle.
A protester at the site, who did not want to be named, said: "We are making preparations for the eviction process because that's going to be imminent in the next few weeks, that is now mainly our focus.
"The wheels are in motion and we have made a start on the legal process.
"Our plan will be to try and defend the site as long as we can and our ultimate goal is to not leave until we have absolutely no option.
"We have been here for quite a few weeks now and morale is still really high, everything is going really well, we still have lots of support from the local residents and there is still a lot of traffic coming to the website.
"We are expecting about 25 people to come this weekend."
Campaigners moved onto the site determined to stop UK Coal starting work at the site, claiming it would wreck the countryside.
UK Coal appealed after Telford & Wrekin Council failed to come to a decision over the application to mine at the Huntington Lane site.
But a public inquiry was held last year and planning inspector Andrew Mead recommended the appeal be allowed, which paved the way for Secretary of State John Denham to grant permission.
Speaking about eviction action, UK Coal spokesman Stuart Oliver said: "It is almost an inevitability if they take the decision not to leave.
"It will be several months before the heavy work starts and we would not be able to do that with the protesters on site for health and safety reasons."
