ATH apply for change of planning consent at Grievehill

ATH Resources plc, one of the UK’s largest coal producers, have submitted an application for a change of condition to the planning consent in respect of their Grievehill opencast site, to allow for a further 370,000 tonnes of coal to be extracted from within the existing site boundary.

The Grievehill site was purchased from The Scottish Coal Co. Ltd in 2005 and entered production in September that year. The site covers some 118ha and is located adjacent to ATH’s operational Garleffan opencast coal mine, approximately 8km south-east of Cumnock, Ayrshire.

The additional coal will be extracted from the same sequence of coal seams that occurs throughout the rest of the site and will be supplied to power generation, industrial and domestic markets.

Tom Allchurch, chief executive of ATH Resources plc, said: ‘We are confident that the local authority will look favourably upon this application as the coal extraction will occur within the site’s existing operational area. The reserves will secure the continued employment of the workforce within land that is already disturbed, resulting in minimal environmental effects.’