Plea to make sure bell pit site remains

Mar 4 2010 by Neil McKay, The Journal

But Mr Marrs, 52, of Granville Terrace, Annfield Plain, near Stanley, County Durham, former chief executive of the now defunct Durham City Council, explained: “On this site at Bradley there is a wonderful pepperpot of bell pits dating back to the 18th Century and possibly even earlier.

“They are a fantastic educational tool and it would be a crime if they were to disappear.

“I have taken hundreds of people on guided walks to look at them, I believe they should be a listed monument and a must for schoolchildren to visit. But UK Coal don’t seem to care. They just want to flatten the entire area.”

UK Coal has already successfully applied for planning permission to create three habitat ponds for great crested newts next to the proposed site.

The company, which plans to extract 556,000 tonnes from the Bradley site, an area of 73,000 square metres in the Derwent Valley, was hindered by the presence of the tiny animals on a pond in the area where it wants to mine.

A spokesman said: “This application is still going through the planning process with Durham County Council. We have had approval to create three settling ponds (near to the site) and will be starting work this spring. The ponds will ecologically enhance the environment by attracting wildlife into the ponds.

“This is something we have taken upon ourselves to do.”