VILLAGERS can air their views over the next stage in a long-running opencast coal proposal for a site on their doorstep, at a public meeting next week.
Many local people backed a successful campaign against plans to work more than 135-acres of farmland between West Rainton and Pittington, near Durham, which were rejected by county council planning committee members, in June last year.
Applicant Hargreaves Surface Mining, which wants to remove 514,000 tonnes of coal and 85,000 tonnes of fireclay from land at Field House Farm, subsequently lodged an appeal against the decision.
A public inquiry will be staged to consider the appeal late next month.
Opponents of the proposed opencast site staged a recent meeting in Pittington to gain support for the cause ahead of the inquiry.
A similar meeting will take place at The Jubilee Hall, in South Street, West Rainton, on Tuesday (September 2), at 7pm, with everyone welcome.
The public inquiry, itself, will be held at Pittington Village Hall, off Coalford Lane, High Pittington, starting on Tuesday, September 29.
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