The watershed located between Todmorden and Bacup was once part
of the ancient Forest of Elmet. Over the centuries it has been
deforested, extensively mined, used as a dump and generally neglected.
The tributaries of the River Calder have suffered badly due to
polluting heavy metal leaching from old mine workings. Attempts
at environmental reclamation from open cast mining have been unsuccessful,
leaving ugly scars on the landscape. The area is prone to regular
erosion and resulting landslips, with major mudslides in 1947,
1982, 1991, and 2001.
The devastating floods of June 2000 demonstrated the need to
improve the "environmental health" of the watershed.
During the storm, one month's average rainfall fell within the
space of 24 hours, and at its height one million tonnes of water
per hour were falling on the Upper Calder valley. Over 700 local
homes were affected in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge.
Ecological restoration of the watershed is now an urgent necessity.
The aim of the Appeal is twofold: to repair the damage and restore
an area of outstanding natural beauty designed to prevent flooding
and erosion and to prevent further environmental exploitation.
The campaign against open cast mining dates back to the late
eighties and early nineties, when a planning application was submitted
for an open cast mine on Heald Moor to extract 150,000 tonnes
of coal.
In 1992, to huge local relief, the application was rejected by
Lancashire County.
However, a more extensive mining application was made in 1999.
Several groups joined together to create "The Watershed Campaign",
which argued the case that siting a one mile long trench at the
river's source would worsen problems of flooding, increase heavy
lorry traffic and result in over 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions.
The campaign was unsuccessful in getting support from the Environment
Agency but a major publicity campaign eventually paid off when
Calderdale Council's Development Committee agreed to rescind a
prior decision and object to the application. Finally, on November
7th 2001, Lancashire County Council rejected the plan, on traffic
grounds.
Not unexpectedly, the mining company has appealed against Lancashire's
decision, and has submitted an amended application.
This means that there will be a public inquiry in the next few
months, when a final decision as to the fate of Heald Moor will
be made. The Watershed Campaign will be represented by Treesponsibility
at the inquiry.
The land near the proposed mine is badly degraded as a result
of past open-casting, and the company is claiming that their remediation
scheme offers "the only hope" of repairing this damage.
Treesponsibility has an alternative ecological restoration strategy,
which will be presented to the inquiry to disprove their case
and hopefully stop further applications for open cast mines at
Heald Moor.
The Watershed Campaign is also fund-raising to buy a neglected
clough, near the source of the river as part of their environmentally
friendly solution. To find out more visit
the campaign's site.
