Gloucestershire County Council has stood up to say it will protect the ancient rights of the Freeminers of the Forest of Dean to mine and burn coal.

The rights of Freeminers were granted by King Edward I around 1296 and they allow people born within the Hundred of St Briavels, over 21, and who had worked underground for a year and a day, to mine coal, iron, and stone on specific plots known as “gales”

Their unique privileges are understood to have later been granted to the Freeminers were a reward for their part in recapturing Berwick upon Tweed in the 13th and 14th centuries, but it was not until 1838 that the Dean Forest (Mines) Act enshrined their rights in an act of parliament.

Shire Hall councillors pledged to protect these traditions during a debate this week which called for more action to tackle climate change and lobby MPs ask them to raise the need for a planned phase out of fossil fuels with their political parties.

Labour group leader John Bloxsom (Rodborough) put forward an amendment to the Green motion which called to acknowledge the heritage and legal rights for Freeminers in the Forest of Dean.

This was met with some laughter from across the chamber. And Cinderford Councillor Graham Morgan (L) said he was not surprised by the reaction.

“It seems that some people think this is funny in the chamber, but that’s no surprise to us in the Forest,” he said.

“We’ve always thought we’d had a raw deal from this chamber in the Forest of Dean, and that’s not just me, that’s the people of the Forest of Dean.

“So when they think it’s funny, think again. And, some people said earlier that we don’t dig it up, but we still do, and it’s a legal right.”

He explained the Forest of Dean has changed “probably more than anywhere in the country” in recent decades.

“There is no deep mining in the forest at all.”

He said coal was still dug up by freeminers and explained the importance of its heritage.

“It brings tourism to the forest of Dean. We’ve lost our industry, the looks of Xerox and engineering.

“What we’ve got left now is tourism. We don’t have the luxury of the Cotswolds and what they got up there, but we have got heritage, and part of that heritage is digging up coal.

“And when the Greens say you can’t dig it up to burn it, well it’s nonsense because those small bands of people that still do it dig it up to sell it to burn it.

“I’m not a climate change denier, and I’m not advocating deep mining or more drilling of oil.

“What I am saying is if you don’t do things practically, you can do more damage than you’re trying to create.”

Lydney Councillor Alan Preest (C) disagreed with the comments about the Forest getting a raw deal but agreed with everything else Cllr Morgan said.

“Dean Forest Railway needs steam, which is produced from coal, to survive, and that’s a vital element of our tourism economy,” he said.

“I can’t betray the people in the Forest of Dean and their traditions, otherwise I wouldn’t be in this chamber, neither would Graham or Carole [Allaway-Martin], or any other Foresters.

“We are true Foresters, we recognise our heritage from the bears in Ruardean, the boars now and the sheep are all part of our heritage.

“I’m certainly not a climate change denier. I don’t drive.

“I walk or limp at the moment, but I would be totally supportive of this amendment and I hope others will respect what we in Graham, certainly as Foresters are trying to do.”

Tidenham Councillor Chris McFarling was the only one of the Green Party group to support the amendment.

He said: “The amount that preserving this heritage contributes to global warming is minuscule and its heritage importance therefore worthy of being an exception.

“It is extremely important we acknowledge the freeminers and their right to burn coal.”

Councillor Chloe Turner (G, Minchinhampton) said she understands the importance of the heritage but would be voting against the amendment.

“I feel that carving out an exception just based on where somebody lives is not acceptable when this motion is very much about principle,” she said.

Conservative councillor Mark Hawthone (Quedgeley) said his group wanted to vote for things that deliver real change.

“What Graham has highlighted is a practical reality,” he said.

“It should be a wake up call that motions like this are not about what we do as a county council.

“We should stand up for the traditions of the Forest of Dean and deliver real change on the streets of Gloucestershire.”

He said the Green motion looked stupid when “put up against reality”.

Councillor Beki Hoyland (G, Blakeney) agreed the heritage is really important and the history of freemining could be protected without burning coal.

The amendment was passed with support from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Cllr McFarling.

The subsequent amended motion which called for lobbying of MPs to do more to tackle climate change faster

And for the County Council to formally endorse the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, lobby the Prime Minister to also endorse it and demostrate the council’s  commitment to the rapid transition to net zero was voted down by 23 votes to 20 with one abstention.

Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party councillors voted in favour while Conservatives and Independents voted against.