Mining - Money above ground
WORKERS, APR 2007 ISSUE
With four deep coal mines still in production, how long before UK Coal drops the Coal for UK Estate Agency after inheriting 50,000 acres of land following the privatisation of British Coal?
Its profit margins now rely on land sales and new house building, 14,000 planned nationally, 900 on the site of the Prince of Wales colliery in Pontefract. With the value of the land portfolio up by 25 per cent from 2006, UK Coal just gets wealthier by sitting and doing very little.
The site of Cortonwood Colliery, whose closure triggered the 1984–85 Miners' Strike, now boasts "daisy–fresh" stylish apartments, a private retirement village and a lake for canoeists and small boat owners, and is valued at £60 million by the Anglo–Dutch and London estate agents. No wonder UK Coal is excited by land.