Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the proposed Bradley open-cast coal mine in Pont Valley, County Durham on the Government’s commitment to restore the natural environment.

UK Coal Mining Ltd applied to Durham County Council on 11 December 2007 for planning permission to open the proposed Bradley Coal Mine. This was granted at appeal on 3 June 2015. The Environment Agency (EA) was consulted as a statutory requirement during Durham County Council’s original consultation on the planning application. The EA considered the application and the accompanying Environmental Impact Assessment to consider any risks to controlled waters and how the site would be later restored, and requested further information on these aspects. Having reviewed this additional information, in June 2010 the EA concluded it was satisfied with the revised restoration plan and that there were no adverse effects in terms of hydrology or hydrogeology.