What we know so far about the new proposals

What we know so far about the new proposals - not a lot actualy

A company called "York Potash" which bought up significant mineral rights from land owners accross the North York Moors, sold out to Sirius  Minerals for £25 million in January of 2011.

The company announced that it intended to submit a planning application for the construction of a potash mine sometime during 2012.

"Sirius is undertaking the research into a "slurry" pipeline between a potential minehead and production facility." -- this extract taken from the Sirius website appears to suggest that there will be a mine and a processing plant, two seperate complexes.

North York Moors National Park - will deal with any planning application which falls within the parks boundrys.

North Yorkshire County Council - will deal with any planning application concerning mining or mineral extraction, providing that the proposal is not within the National Park.

Scarborough Borough Council - will deal with any planning application providing (a) it is not concerned with mineral extraction and / or mining and (b) the proposal is outside the National Park.

The National Park will be consulted by both SBC and NYCC if any proposal is close to the boundry of the National Park, and vica versa.

At this early stage it is acknowledged that millions of tonnes of mined product will need to be transported, Sirius Minerals seem to have made two indications, firstly that the prefered method of transportation would be rail, and possibly to Tees Dock which we must assume means via the Esk Valley Railway, but more recently it has been suggested that a pipeline be laid from the mine ( site yet to be announced ) all the way to Teesside.

The people of Whitby must wait to see precisely what proposals Sirius will come up with, the leading questions regarding the transportation of potash will be - where exactly will the potash be processed ready for transportation, how close to any proposed process plant are existing rail lines.