Campaigners against plans to build an £160 million coal mine off the coast of West Cumbria have lodged papers with the High Court in a bid to overturn the Government’s go-ahead.
It would be Britain’s first coal mine in 30 years and produce coking coal for the steel industry but has caused huge controversy locally and nationally.
His decision was based on the outcome of a planning inquiry, which investigated the plans from West Cumbria Mining and heard from objectors South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth, after the original go-ahead was called in for scrutiny.
The plans had been approved at a county level.
Despite the Government’s approval, opponents vowed to continue fighting the plans.
In an update, South Lakes Action on Climate Change said: “It sets out four grounds of challenge which, in SLACC’s view, mean that the decision was unlawful and should be quashed.
Mr Gove acknowledged that 220 million tonnes of greenhouse gases would be released from the coal extracted over the mine’s lifetime, and that most of the coal would be exported rather than used in the UK or EU,. but he still concluded that the mine would be ‘climate neutral or slightly beneficial’.
“Our claim sets out the errors in law; the failure to give intelligible reasons, and the disparity of treatment between the parties that Mr Gove employed to arrive at this contradictory conclusion.”
The group said it would be releasing more details about the grounds for its challenges over the coming days and added that it could take several months before the final outcome of the challenge would be clear.
It set up an online fundraising page to help it with its costs, which currently stands at £32,285.
