West Cumbria Mining Ltd’s plans appear uncertain for a deep coal mine under the Irish Sea off the coast of Whitehaven after the company last month withdrew its application.
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The company has yet to make a statement on its future plans since the High Court quashed the approved mine in September 2024.
The decision followed the Supreme Court’s ruling three months earlier that end-use burning emissions must be included in applications.
In September 2024, the Coal Authority refused to grant three conditional underground coal mining licences to replace former expired licences for Woodhouse Colliery.
WCM subsequently withdrew its application.
An email published on 4 April 2025 by opponents to the mine, South Lakes Action on Climate Change, from WCM’s lawyers reads: “As explained in our letter to you of 26 March 2025, our client does not currently have the necessary licences from the Coal Authority, which makes any grant of planning permission unimplementable and as a result our client is not able to proceed with the application.
“In this context, the current planning application can be considered as withdrawn.”