Jobs axed at Stobswood opencast site near Morpeth

Aug 14 2009 by David Black, The Journal

DOZENS of jobs are being axed at a North East opencast site – but workers affected by the redundancies could be re-employed within months.

About 30 jobs – almost half of the remaining workforce – are going at the 1,500-acre Stobswood mine in Northumberland, where coal production ended in 2008 after 18 years.

The massive site is now being restored to agriculture, and operator UK Coal has announced the redundancies because there is not enough work left for all of the remaining employees.

The 30 who are being made redundant will be given the chance to put their names on a register, and will then be offered new jobs with the company when coaling starts at two sites in Northumberland and County Durham early next year.

UK Coal says its 600-acre mine at Potland Burn near Ashington and the 400-acre site at Park Wall North near Tow Law will employ about 125 people between them.

Yesterday UK Coal spokesman Stuart Oliver said employees were being offered the chance to take voluntary redundancy, but there would be around 24 compulsory redundancies.

“We are currently restoring the Stobswood site and we don’t require as many people now. We had hoped to start at Potland Burn and Park Wall North by now, but that has been delayed to early next year.

“It is quite ironic we have approval for these two sites in the North East but we are not yet in a position to start work on them.”

Meanwhile, plans have been submitted to build new homes on the site where an award-winning Northumberland company closed earlier this year because of the recession.

All 28 staff at the Shark Group factory at Nordstrom House in North Broomhill near Morpeth lost their jobs when parent company Survitec Group announced it would be moving production to Merseyside and marketing and maintenance work to Aberdeen.