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| - Britain has ordered a public inquiry into its first planned deep coal mine in decades, reversing its stance after an outcry from environmental campaigners before this year's COP26 climate summit. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick's department wrote Thursday to Cumbria County Council to reveal that plans for the controversial mine in northwest England would be "called in", or reviewed. The proposed coastal project, whose developer is Australian-owned West Cumbria Mining, would be located near the town of Whitehaven and supply European and UK steelmakers with metallurgical coal. "Overall the Secretary of State (Jenrick) considers that this application raises planning issues of more than local importance," the department wrote in the letter which was also published online late Thursday. "To consider all the relevant aspects of the proposed development, the Secretary of State has decided to hold a local inquiry." The letter added that the inquiry, undertaken by the department's planning inspectorate division, would begin immediately. Jenrick had previously declined to intervene in the matter. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will host COP26 in Glasgow in November, ran into fierce criticism from environmental campaigners over his January decision to defer approval for the carbon-intensive facility to the local authority. Cumbria County Council had initially given the go ahead for the mine in October, but decided in February it would review the plans to assess environmental impact more accurately. The public inquiry comes after a long-running campaign against the project by environmental groups, which accused the Johnson's government of undermining its climate pledges. Greenpeace welcomed the government's U-turn, but warned that its overall environmental strategy was still lacking. "This is certainly fantastic news and definitely better late than never," said Greenpeace UK chief scientist Doug Parr. "The government may have just about saved its blushes, so long as the mine is canned. "But with plans still to expand airports and a green homes programme left in ruins, there's a long way to go before Boris Johnson can truly have the full credibility required of a man hosting vital climate talks later this year." The proposed Whitehaven mine has also sparked an outcry because the government wants to phase out coal-powered electricity by 2025. jbo-rfj/phz/bp
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