The boss of the company which wants to build a mine off the coast of Whitehaven has been grilled about the economic and employment benefits of the project.
Mark Kirkbride, chief executive of West Cumbria Mining, was giving evidence at the Public Inquiry into his firm’s £160 million plans.
Its application was called in by the Government after concerns from people about climate change and the UK’s commitment to net zero.
It had previously been approved by Cumbria County Council three times.
The inquiry, led by planning inspector Stephen Normington, is expected to last for four weeks.
On its third day, the inquiry focused on the economic and employment benefits.
At the heart of the debate was the number of jobs which would be on offer at the mine, the employment figures for Cumbria.
Mr Kirkbride outlined his extensive experience in the industry while being questioned by West Cumbria Mining’s barrister Gregory Jones QC.
Mr Jones asked about a number of factsheets West Cumbria Mining produced, focusing on the number and types of jobs, experience needed to work in the mine and apprenticeships.
Objectors claim that there are not enough people in the area with the right skills or experience to fill the jobs that would be on offer.
Mr Kirkbride stressed that ‘relevant experience’ did not mean ‘relevant mining experience’ and the company had never said that was the case.
The factsheets, first produced in 2017, initially said 513 jobs would be created and that has risen to 532.
Mr Kirkbride said: “The factsheets were produced at the request of local people.
“They were to give them an insight. Some things have been superceded.”
Mr Kirkbride said the company wanted to create 50 apprenticeships and he had had discussions with Lakes College at Lillyhall.
South Lakes Action on Climate Change and Friends of the Earth are opposing the scheme.
Rowan Clapp, for South Lakes Action on Climate Change, cross-examined Mr Kirkbride.
He spent a great deal of time asking Mr Kirkbride about the disparity between 518 and 532 jobs.
At one stage, Mr Kirkbride answered Mr Clapp’s probing by saying: “The exact number of jobs is not part of the planning process. If we were building houses, would we be expected to set out how many bricklayers we would be using?”
He told Mr Clapp that the figures were based on projections by experts and was comparable to similar operations across the globe.
Mr Clapp’s cross-examination was based on the findings of Rebekah Diski, a senior researcher at think tank the New Economics Foundation.
Ms Diski researches a just transition to a low carbon economy, and works in communities in deindustralised areas.
While giving her evidence later in the day, she said the job numbers were based on data that she had not been able to verify and it was hard to have confidence that it was true that workers would be drawn from the local area.
Earlier, Mr Clapp said there were only 10 people in Cumbria employed in coal mining in Cumbria and only 40 across the UK employed in coal mining – and these were the people who would have the skills to work in the mine.
But Mr Kirkbride said he had a database of 2,000 people who were interested in working for West Cumbria Mining and 146 had been involved recently in coal mining.
He added: “Some are UK-based, many were born and brought up in West Cumbra and want to come back.
“We have no intention of recruiting from outside the UK; we have had applications from ex-pat miners in Australia – who hold British passports and from West Cumbria – who want to come back.”
Mr Clapp pressed Mr Kirkbride on employment levels and questioned unemployment figures.
He said: “Unemployment is generally not a serious issue. Unemployment stands at 3.7 per cent, below the national average.”
Mr Kirkbride replied: “There are pockets of deprivation.”
He had earlier told Mr Jones: “Whitehaven has a number of districts that have got multi-generation unemployment, young people not in education or training and a reliance on foodbanks.
“The disparity of Sellafield, which employs 11,000 people, which is a high payer.”
Ms Diski said that she hadn’t disagreed with pockets of deprivation and Mr Kirkbride was using some that data to generalise about Copeland in general and the data had been used selectively.
Ms Diski, however, told Mr Clapp later that the lack of skills in the area would either mean people would take the mining jobs from outside the area or the jobs would be filled by skilled people already in employment in the area, therefore not bringing a benefit.
She said it would also have an impact on tourists as it seemed at odds with the local plan to attract visitors.
Ms Diski will be cross-examined by Mr Jones tomorrow.
You can watch the inquiry below.
