Sirius awaits report on York Potash mine

A LONG-AWAITED report from the North York Moors National Park Authority which will recommend whether a huge new potash mine can be developed, is expected to be published by the end of this week.

Sirius Minerals, which is behind the application for onshore mining – expected to create more than 1,000 direct jobs with thousands more in the supply chain – said that the authority will release its planning committee report and officer’s recommendation in the next few days.

The decision will be based on policy considerations, benefits, as well as the anticipated environmental impacts.

Sirius said today that it had been given no indication whether its application will be approved or refused.

The decision on the planning application will be made by a majority vote of the NYMNPA members at the authority’s special planning committee meeting on July 29.

Chris Fraser, managing director and CEO of Sirius, commented: “There is a very clear and strong case for the National Park to approve the application for this exceptional project. With close to 10,000 pages of information submitted in the application there is a wealth of detailed information that will give comfort in the level of care that has gone into our proposals.”

Sirius has had lengthy discussions with organisations including the Environment Agency, which has removed its objections to the application subject to planning conditions. 

The company is in ongoing talks with Natural England while the Ministry of Defence, responsible for the nearby Fylingdales RAF base, is expected to formally remove its holding objection before a final decision is made on the application.

The local highways authority, North Yorkshire County Council, has already indicated that it has no objection to the proposed development having considered the ‘worst case’ highways impact.