Transport

Once Woodhouse Colliery enters production, WCM have pledged to move all coal by rail (through Whitehaven) to the port of Redcar on the North East coast at Teesside. The coal will then be distributed onwards to UK and European steel works. A new dedicated railway siding will be constructed along with a noise-insulated rail loading facility allowing for the loading and distribution of the coal, helping us to achieve our goal of minimising environmental impact.

The impact upon the local highways will be limited to use by people commuting to and from work and delivery of materials. By moving the coal by rail, rather than transporting road, the CO₂ footprint is reduced by more than 76 percent.

During the construction phase, we will consult with the local community regarding traffic movements and potential alternatives to private cars and road haulage so that we can minimise the impact wherever possible. We will have designated travel routes to avoid Whitehaven town centre and seek to avoid current peak traffic hours.

Consideration has been given as to how we can prevent overloading the local roads with deliveries. WCM will have its own off-site storage facility and will make a limited number of daily deliveries, using designated times and routes.

Once operational, it is anticipated that there will be up to 220 people on-site during the daytime shift. Therefore, we will continue to look at ways to reduce the number of cars coming to site, i.e. through encouraging lift-sharing between employees, shift worker buses and cycle to work schemes. These schemes will be developed in line with our Corporate Social Responsibly plan.

There will be ample car parking on site for the expected numbers and we will work with the local Council to ensure there is no parking at all on High Road.