The cooling towers of Ferrybridge power station
The decision on a new coal power station at
E.ON's Kingsnorth facility in Kent
is still expected later this year - the current rumour is around June but as
with all government pronouncements you should take that with a very large pinch
of salt. Whether it gets the go-ahead or not, it will have ramifications for
the other proposed coal developments - including opencast mines - elsewhere in
the country.
One of these is at Ferrybridge in west Yorkshire where half of the power station is due to go
out of service in 2015. A more immediate threat is the opencast mine planned
for the area, which will sit next door to an RSPB nature reserve at Fairburn
Ings, and the group Yorkshire Against
New Coal (Yanc) is standing in opposition to both plans.