Protect Wheal Vor

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Protect Wheal Vor is a project which opposes the mining of tin and other mineral ores in the parish and environs of Breage, set up by the Great Wheal Vor Community and Environment Group (GWVCEG). GWVCEG is a community group formed in 2021 which seeks to develop and promote community awareness and protect and improve the local environment.

Any future extractive mining, despite its new green promises, will produce significant additional dangers for our local environment, not reduce them.

33 preliminary boreholes throughout the Wheal Vor area which is located within the Parish of Breage were granted a planning order by Cornwall Council in 2021, giving Cornish Tin permission to drill. Exploratory drilling began in April 2022. There are no plans for the protection of streams, watercourses and groundwater in the years following their abandonment. In the event they were only able to drill 22 holes over 2 phases, presumably due to difficulty obtaining landowner access agreements (despite their claim of 100% success in this).

On December 14th 2023 Cornish Tin applied for a second GDPO planning order for a further 26 boreholes around the Trew and Polladras area, with a closing date of 21 days for comments to be posted - right over the Christmas period! Even with such a short time given for members of the community to respond 20 people responded strongly objecting to the scheme with numerous examples given of the loss of amenity to the local community and those who will have to put up with the effects of this further exploratory drilling in 2024. Not one public comment was supportive.

Should planning permission for extractive mining be sought at any time in the future, Protect Wheal Vor will formally object.