VILLAGERS fighting to block an opencast are stepping up their campaign ahead of a public inquiry.

Residents of Pittington, West Rainton and surrounding villages to the east of Durham City have been resisting Hargreaves Surface Mining’s attempts to opencast up to 514,000 tonnes of coal and 83,000 tonnes of fireclay from 56 hectares of farmland known as Field House for nearly three years.

A Durham County Council committee refused planning permission, against the recommendation of their own planning officers, in June last year but Hargreaves has appealed the decision and a public inquiry will be held at Pittington Village Hall in September.

Hearings will take place from Tuesday to Friday starting on Tuesday, September 29, including an evening session probably on Thursday, October 1, and the inquiry is expected to last three weeks.

The Planning Inspectorate will then announce the outcome in due course.

The inquiry was postponed from July.

Public meetings about the issue will be held at Hallgarth Manor Hotel, Pittington on Tuesday (August 11) and Jubilee Hall, West Rainton on Wednesday, September 2, both at 7pm.

Leaders of the Stop The Opencast in Pittington and West Rainton campaign are urging as many people as possible to attend.

Leaflets distributed ahead of the meeting read: “It really is now or never to stop the opencast. Make your voice heard, tell the (Planning) Inspector why this must be stopped, this is your last chance. We must act now.”

Hargreaves, which is based in Esh Winning, says Field House is a project that works and has undergone the highest level of scrutiny.

Planning director Steve MacQuarrie said the project would deliver a considerable economic boost, positive site restoration and benefit local communities.

However, opponents say the opencast would generate unacceptable noise, dirt, dust, traffic and light pollution, ruining the countryside and causing health problems.

If given the go-ahead, the mining would last about 26 months, followed by a lengthy period of restoration work.

For more information on the campaign, visit facebook.com/stopwr

In June, Planning Inspector Kathleen Ellison overturned the council’s decision to refuse UK Coal planning permission to opencast the Bradley site, near Consett, following a public inquiry.

Afterwards, Steve Leary, of the Loose Anti Opencast Network, said Mrs Ellison’s consideration of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which considers surface mineable coal to be a mineral of national importance, could pave the way for other schemes, such as Field House.