ST HELENS Council has rejected a planning application by Ward Brothers to establish an open-cast mining site at Crock Hey, Garswood.

And the decision was welcomed by Councillor Jim Stevenson, chairman of Seneley Green Parish Council who had opposed the plans on the grounds that the proposed two-year site would further erode the surrounding countryside resulting in an increase of traffic.

He said: "We already have an open-cast site at Carters Fold West and I can't remember a time when Garswood wasn't host to some sort of mining concern. I am very pleased that the borough council have finally realised that the area has suffered enough and this is a victory for common sense."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.