£1 BARGAIN BUY FOR COAL MINE DEVELOPERS!
Our Christmas competition to win an “iconic Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole badge and hand-made felted puffin”reveals that in November 2020 the coal mine developers West Cumbria Mining paid just £1 for the Haig Mining Museum and surrounding land.
Our Competition said:
“The coast of West Cumbria and the Irish Sea which cradles it, is such an important home to increasingly rare sea-birds – including the black guillemot. The little puffin can even occasionally be seen frequenting this area.
To Win the Badge and the Puffin please answer the following question:
HOW MUCH DID WEST CUMBRIA MINING PAY FOR THE HAIG MINING MUSEUM BUILDINGS AND LAND ?”
The winning answer of £1 was by Leigh Puddifoot of West Cumbria who is delighted with the little puffin. Congratulations to Leigh!
We found it so utterly incredible that West Cumbria Mining paid just £1 for the previously publicly owned land and buildings at the Haig, that we just had to run a Christmas competition. The Haig Museum was built and run with over £2.5M of public money through the Heritage Lottery and Copeland Borough Council. According to their website the Land Trust owned the land ie it was in public ownership while the Haig Mining Museum itself was shaping up to be an important community hub with Christmas parties for local groups and much needed events for youngsters. So to hand over the lot, lock stock and barrel for £1 to coal mine developers (who also have an interest in Geological Disposal of Nuclear Wastes under the Irish Sea) is truly incredible.
The Land Trust’s website still states ” The Colourful Coast, spanning Whitehaven to St Bees and taking in Haig, is now managed for wildlife and recreation and is home to thousands of breeding sea birds including puffins, black guillemots, razorbills and gulls. Haig, owned by the Land Trust and managed by the National Trust on its behalf, was once the site of Cumbria’s largest coal producing pit Haig colliery, whose tunnels reach 4.5 miles out under the Solway Firth and the Irish Sea. The public can now explore more of this amazing coastline on foot than ever before, thanks to Open Access land, new permissive paths and the Public Rights of Way network.” We note that the Land Trust and the National Trust have been in talks with WCM – and we assume deals have been done.
What adds insult to injury is that West Cumbria Mining have put paperwork in place (witnessed by a “BarTender”) to ensure that when the coal mine plan goes belly up, the former Land Trust owned land and publicly owned Mining Museum of the Haig, on this Colourful Coast would not go to creditors but to protected unnamed persons in EMR Capital’s Cayman Islands accounts…
…..we assume that this is all perfectly legal (?!)
But it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, in any way fair.
CONGRATULATIONS to all those who guessed right that this land – which was in the ownership of the public and necessary to West Cumbria Mining’s coal mine plan (and other interests) – was sold for the pittance of £1.
Notes- Previous Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole analysis –
https://keepcumbriancoalinthehole.wordpress.com/2020/12/16/ghost-of-christmas-future/
Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole 