A PUBLIC inquiry has been told that up to £55,000 has been made available for community projects if plans to create an opencast coalmine are approved.

UK Coal’s operations director Dave Bolton told the hearing at Leadgate Workmen’s Social Club, near Consett, in County Durham, that the firm would also help fund the creation of a £700,000 roundabout near the controversial Bradley site.

The inquiry is being held after a planning application was rejected by Durham County Councillors following a campaign of public opposition.

Mr Bolton gave details of 20 community organisations which have benefited from a similar scheme at the nearby Stony Heap site.

He said: “UK Coal has worked and restored numerous surface mine coal schemes, including brownfield and greenfield sites.

“These works have been carried out to a high standard and the company has the requisite skills and resources to carry out the operations at Bradley to the same high standard.”

The firm’s commercial contracts director, Phil Garner, told the hearing that coal provides about 29 per cent of electricity generated in the UK.

He said: “Indigenous coal can contribute to a secure and diverse energy supply and it is important to maintain a viable surface mine industry within the UK able to respond to fluctuations in demand.”

UK Coal wants to remove about 500,000 tonnes of coal from the site but has been met with opposition over fears about dirt and noise, as well as the ecological and environmental impact.

Pitch Wilson, vice-chairman of the Durham branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and secretary of the Derwent Valley Protection Society, said: “If a precedent is set by allowing this application, the outcome, we believe, could be nothing less than disastrous for the whole area.”

The hearing continues and could last up to a further three weeks.