Tom vows to block off mine from the park
Tom Chadwick, Chairman of the North Yorkshire Moors Association at his home in Castleton
THE chairman of a pressure group which acts as “protectors of the North Yorks Moors” has said that he will fight to stop a mine being built within the national park
Tom Chadwick, chairman of the North Yorkshire Moors Association, says he has the backing of the Campaign for National Parks, which possesses a “fighting fund” that can be used to battle any development plans.
He said: “Our main objection, written into our constitution, is to protect the moors. If you take that as our purpose then a potash mine does not fit.
“We know they’ve found a lot of polyhalite and we have absolutely no objection to potash being mined underneath the Yorkshire moors.
“What we object to is a major industrial intrusion in the national park.”
Mr Chadwick acknowledged that Sirius Minerals intend to make the minehead impact the visual environment as little as possible, but with such a huge industrial site, he added that it will be impossible to hide entirely.
He said: “If you dig two mine shafts, 12m in diameter to a depth of 1,600metres then you’re talking about a million cubic metres of uncompacted material. That would fill a football field to a height of 300 feet.”
Due to transportation costs, the company would have no option but to dispose of this spoilage nearby, within the national park.
Mr Chadwick described other potential eyesores: “Even if you haven’t got the processing plant like at Boulby, you’ve still got the minehead gear, all the pumping equipment, offices, ancillary buildings, roads, storage tanks.
“It’s going to be an enormous industrial site whichever way you look at it - and it’s going to be in the national park.”
Likely sites for the minehead are at Newton House, Langdale Forest or Harwood Dale Forest, where Forestry Commission plantations will be used to disguise the industrial site.
These sites are seen as preferable as they are at the very centre of the potash deposit, but this would mean the building of a pipeline to Teesside, where the processing plant would be located. Land along this route may need to purchased, potentially through compulsory purchase orders, but aside from this Mr Chadwick highlighted the fact that no one has ever built a pipeline of that length to transport polyhalite ore, adding: “A national park is really not the place to be conducting experiments.”
Sirius Minerals have commissioned a team to investigate the feasibility of constructing a mine and are due to report back in March, ahead of a potential planning application later in 2012.
However, Mr Chadwick has fought battles against other proposed potash developments in the past, such as the failed project to build a refinery beside Eskdale School in 1978, and he said that any development should consider the cost to the environment and the community ahead of the cost to the company.
He added: “This isn’t just a done deal, but that’s the impression that people have.
“A national park has two statutory obligations. One is to conserve and enhance the landscape, the other is to preserve it for the enjoyment of the people”
Check out next Friday’s Gazette for more from our conversation with Mr Chadwick, where he discussed the effects a new potash mine may have on the local economy.
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Comments
There are 6 comments to this article
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troopermerlin
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:25 PMI would like to ask Tom Chadwick a question and get this right out into the open. If the site plan at Sirius Minerals was sympathetically designed to blend with the surrounding countryside, for example like the CEO Chris Fraser suggested, like a big barn, and the majority of the workings were out of site, then just what objections would you find then? Because right now you are asking for funds to support the fight against something that 1. does not exist yet and 2. has no intention of breaking up the natural beauty of the North Yorks. Park area. So, a project that if you listened to exactly what was said, and looked at the actual plans, then talked with the company about their potential design, you might find that people whoever they are, could be sending you money that is really not needed. You might also be arguing against the majority of local and national views that agree this could be the most exciting project ever planned for Yorkshire. So why not stop running round preaching that the sky is about to fall, and wait and see, other people as well as you love our land, love the natural forests and moors, and would not want them to be abused, and that includes the board at Sirius Minerals.
troopermerlin
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 09:02 PMWell, now we know that Tom Chadwick has hoisted his colours against the mast. Just how many people is he actually representing? You see, there are people in authority called the Planning Officers, and they also have the best interests of the people of that beautiful county of North Yorkshire, and the majority of the nation also love that area, and tourism is a huge industry there that brings in a massive amount of income. Unemployment for the young people of the are is a growing problem, and they are moving out of the area to find work. The Sirius Potash Mine would bring a huge opportunity for those young people, yet as far as Tom Chadwick is concerned his main priority is to keep the park free from unwelcome intrusions. Yet the plans of just how the mine-head will look have already been promised to be sympathetic and unobtrusive and would be disguised as a Farm Building. There are so many advantages for this project that will be solely for the people of North Yorkshire, and before we start protesting and campaigning lets see exactly what Sirius Minerals are proposing, and give them a chance. The beauty and integrity of the North Yorkshire parks will always be a priority for me and millions of others, including Chris Fraser and Sirius Minerals, but the massive financial benefits to both the county and to the Nation can be produced without the alleged destruction or defacing of the countryside.
Cuvin
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 12:25 AMContrary to what "yomper" states, the Whitby area is not an economic blackspot, if he or she wishes to see an economic blackspot then go to Redcar, Middlesbrough, Hull or places which are mentioned in the Midlands; This area is not like anywhere else, it has beautiful and unspoilt countryside, coastline and moors, and some of us who where born here wish to keep it that way. The county of North Yorkshire has much lower unemployment than most other areas, we do not live in a deprived region, we are a county of agriculture and tourism and related industry like food. We are not an industrial area and we do not want to be - thankyou.
Cuvin
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 12:15 AMI agree 100% with Tom Chadwick, at the end of the day this is a National Park, the figures of 1000 direct jobs and 4000 spin off jobs are figures suggested by Sirius Minerals, need I say any more. ? - the bottom line is that you simply cannot have major development, industry or large scale building in a National Park, and that realy is the top and bottom of it all; Near Thornton le Dale there is another company which wants to extract gas from the moors and build a process plant on the edge of the village, are we to turn the North York Moors into an industrial landscape. ?
Joseph Arch
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 05:10 PMNow I am as fond of the NY Moors National Park as the rest of you, but I also know that there has been mining on the moors for hundreds of years. What is the rationale behind human economic activity on the moors at this point? Who has decided that the moors should be pickled in aspic to serve only as a backdrop for Heartbeat? I say: What about the workers? Whitby suffers terribly from poor employment opportunities. This is a once in a lifetime chance for Whitby to pull itself out of the economic doldrums of being a tourist town, which has few jobs paying more than minimum wage and has no career prospects for our young people. Is Mr Chadwick and the NY moors authority going to be able to provide employment and career opportunity? Or would he rather see the moor sink into a gradual decline and become a depopulated museum. I appeal to those who are minded to oppose this development to think of what the area will become without this economic opportunity: it will be fine for those of us with well-paid jobs or handy pensions and the leisure time to enjoy the moors but it will be a miserable prison for the young people of the area who cannot develop their careers for lack of opportunity. My message to nimbyism: think of others for once.
Yomper
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 04:40 PMI'm not sure what Mr Chadwicks financial position is but I can assure him that there are a lot of young unemployed people in North Yorks who would be grateful for the opportunity to have a decent paid, stable, long term job in the area. This area is an economic blackspot that needs INVESTMENT. Add to this the fact that this mine could produce for in excess of 100 years, and provide some serious tax money into the local and national economies for at least a century. The displaced soilrock can be easily used to build a earth rampart around the site, like it has been done in many many places, this will shield the industrial elements of the building from the casual observer. Plant grass and trees and you have 'just another hill'. Stick sheep on it if you want that authentic feel! Look at the old rover plant in Gayton, Warwickshire if he wants a good example. Invisible!!! This NIMBYism that pervades the UK, and blocks opportunity for so many people to make a life for themselves is utterly selfish. No-one says that this shouldn't be done sensitively, but to vow to fight it before the mine plans are even published smacks of chronic Nimby behaviour with a selfish dis-regard for anyone in a less fortunate (read: unemployed) population that must live in what he is trying to preserve. please - think again Mr Chadwick. YOUNG PEOPLE NEED SKILLED JOBS
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