British authorities announced Tuesday that they will review plans for a controversial new deep coal mine in northwest England to assess its environmental impact more accurately.

The coastal project, whose developer is Australian-owned West Cumbria Mining, would be located near the town of Whitehaven and supply European and UK steelmakers with metallurgical coal.

Cumbria County Council had initially approved the facility in October despite outcry from environmental campaigners but had not yet given the final go-ahead.

"After the receipt and consideration of new information, Cumbria County Council's development control and regulation committee will now reconsider the planning application," the council said in a new statement.

Tuesday's decision was taken after the UK government published a key climate change report late last year, outlining curbs for greenhouse gas emissions during the period 2033-2037, it added.

"This new information has been received prior to the issue of the formal decision notice on the application. In light of this the council has decided that the planning application should be reconsidered."

The news comes a month after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government opted to leave approval of the country's first new deep coal mine in decades with the local authority.

That move came despite a long-running campaign against the project by environmental groups, which accused the government of undermining its climate pledges.

The saga has also sparked fury from environmental campaigners ahead of the UN's COP26 global climate change summit, which the UK government will host in Glasgow later this year.

Greenpeace welcomed news that the mine application would now be revisited.

"If Cumbria County Council decide it should change its mind, it's a U-turn that would be very welcome," said Greenpeace UK chief scientist Doug Parr.

"It's absolutely right that the county should reconsider plans for a new coal mine in light of evidence demonstrating how damaging this would be for our climate, and for the UK's international reputation.

He added: "Even if the coal mine is canned by Cumbria, this is still a global embarrassment for the UK in a year when we were supposed to be setting an example on climate action for the world to follow."

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Methane emissions from coal mines are higher than previously thought
College Park MD (SPX) Feb 01, 2021
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