The rape of the Scottish countryside for cheap coal will now be limited, the Scottish office announced plans to stop the free for all development of many areas.

Of course the Scottish office does what London tells it to so we will all need to watch very carefully.

The Scottish Office planning minister, Calum MacDonald, said: "The new guidance sets the most robust framework yet within which planning authorities must consider all proposals for opencast coal developments. In considering applications, full weight must be given to the effect on local communities, nature conservation, environmental issues and the effect on the landscape. The guidance makes clear that if a proposed development is considered likely to cause harm, then permission should not be granted except where the benefit of the development proposal to the community would outweigh the potential harm."

Is that benefit to English power stations or the LOCAL Scottish town putting up with all the noise and pollution?

whats sad is that Thatcher closed all our underground coal mines, started importing coal from Poland, and now its gone up in price, Westminster would like to ruin Scotlands countryside to get cheap coal!