'Open cast mining for lignite has a big impact on the landscape. Three years ago the Tomislawice open cast mine opened on the border of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Wielkopolskie counties in Poland. The development of the mine was accompanied by protests from environmentalists fearful about the impact of the mine on local ponds and lakes, particularly Lake Gopla, which is just eight kilometres away. Court cases aimed at overturning the mine's environmental permits are ongoing and the European Comission is still investigating the possibility that European Union law was infringed, while scientists are still in dispute about the long term impact of the mine on the region's Natura 2000 nature protection areas. In the meantime a hole several kilometres wide has been dug in the borough of Wierzbinek and an equally impressive pit heap has appeared beside it. Residents whose farms made way for the mine took compensation and moved away while their neighbours stayed behind. Some houses are only tens of metres from the mine. This report looks at how the mine has changed their lives.' Leszek Pazderski