Cauldhall surface mine proposal

Scottish Coal, part of Scottish Resources Group, have applied for planning permission to establish a new surface mine at Cauldhall Moor in Midlothian, having identified a substantial reserve of coal that would provide a strategic resource of power station coal into the medium term.

The proposed surface mine is located some 2km south of Rosewell and 2.5km to the east of the town of Penicuik. The site is adjacent to Scottish Coal’s Newbigging/Shewington surface mine, south of Rosewell, which has now completed coaling and is in the final stages of restoration.

The new application site, which consists predominantly of rough grazing land with areas of better-quality agricultural land around its periphery, covers approximately 495ha, some 27ha of which lie within the existing Newbigging/Shewington site boundary. Two areas within the proposed development site were surfaced mined to shallow depth during the 1950s.

The site, which contains approximately 10 million tonnes of coal, as well as some 100,000 tonnes of recoverable reserves of fireclay suitable for brick making, would be worked and restored in phases over a 12.5-year period. This would comprise a six-month start-up phase, 10 years of phased coal recovery, and two years of final site restoration. Following the start-up phase and the creation of an initial overburden mound, each subsequent coal recovery phase would be progressively backfilled as operations proceed.

All minerals would be dispatched from site via the existing Newbigging/Shewington site entrance on to the A6094, with traffic routed northwards to the A7 and then onwards to the A720 Edinburgh site bypass.

If given the go-ahead by Midlothian Council, the site would directly generate 230 new jobs, along with significant indirect employment through the supplies and services required to operate the mine. A youth apprenticeship programme would also be delivered through Edinburgh College, providing training and employment opportunities for young people entering the industry.

Upon completion of coaling, final site restoration would see the site returned to a mixture of land uses, including agricultural grassland, rough grassland for grazing, wet heath habitat, native broadleaf woodland and replacement coniferous plantation, as well as the creation of a new watercourse corridor with adjacent wet grassland.