Mine site should be given useful future (From York Press)

Mine site should be given useful future

11:14am Tuesday 1st January 2013 in Letters By Reader's letter

I USED to work at North Selby mine when it was in production, and was sad to see the whole facility close down so soon.

The European Union funded the development of the coalfield, and it produced a lot of jobs and wealth for the area. The residents of Escrick didn’t want to give their name to the pit, so it became North Selby, although everyone who worked there called it Escrick mine.

And once again, all the locals are up in arms because someone actually wants to use the site to do something useful, i.e. dispose of waste and use the heat produced to grow tomatoes.

We’re not talking monster mutant tomatoes that will stalk the fields and murder the villagers in their beds, just tomatoes that you put salad cream on. Or mayonnaise if you’re from Escrick – sorry, North Selby.

There is a real possibility that there could, once again, be a new start for mining in the area. I would suggest digging lots of holes and filling them with sand so the locals could bury their heads in them.

Andy Baldock, Villa Grove, Heworth Green, York.