Pont Valley Opencast Petition

"we must stop the destruction of areas of such beauty. " - C.D.

"completely opposed to any further intrusion by British Coal into the derwent valley. Durham Council should be ashamed to completely ignore the views of local residents" - R.B.

"the open cast will be in direct view from my property however this is not my major concern, my concerns are that the red kites that we see regually flying around the valley will be put off visiting us, it is that the increase in heavy traffic will be damaging to the enviroment and the health of those living localy not to mention the increase in journey time to and from my nursing job. the lighting from the open cast sight will be seen from both my living and bedroom window, and the damage to the view that i moved 300 miles to be able to see when i wake up in the morning. the prospect of the view taking years to look as it does now
" - A.C.

"keep our valley clear of pollution" - E.N.

"I am totally against an open cast mine in the Pont and Derwent Valleys and disgusted that it can even be proposed. The area in size for the Bradley Site is absolutely massive - the size of a village in itself, not just a small area which could potentially be regenerated quickly afterwards. My main concern is where are all of the animals, in particular small creatures, meant to quickly move to and how are they quickly going to create new homes. Of course alot will suffer and die and be frightened of diggers going in. Total destruction of both our wildlife and the beautiful environment that we should be protecting - all for greed and an energy source that is not environmentally friendly. If the Bradley site gets the go ahead, others will open and the entire valley will just be a constant quarry shutting down one and opening another for years and years. The environment will take decades to put back to the way it is now. Disgraceful, backwards and immoral and I hope the authorities looking at the UK coal applications will see sense and turn them all down indefinitely. There should be a law passed that protects the wildlife and environment." - V.G.

"Opencast is a scar on the landscape." - S.C.

"This would destroy a beautiful part of the county." - K.N.

"What happened to the Public Enquiry judgement from the 1980's which stated that there would be loss of too much rare flora and fauna throughout the valley? I note from this weeks Advertiser that the planner says they are taking care of the crested newts, but there is coal all the way down the valley. They will be back to rape it all if this is approved! I too moved to Bradley because of the view. This will blight the lives of local residents for many years and will decimate already below average house values." - J.A.