By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
A major housing application on the former Clipstone Colliery is likely to be turned down next week.
126 homes would be built on the reclaimed land Mansfield Road which includes a capped mineshaft.
The former pit’s historic headstock and powerhouse, which were used to lower miners, are located close to the site.
Newark and Sherwood District Council officers have recommended that the application is refused at the planning meeting on Thursday, July 1, citing problems with the proposed parking and roads.
The application has been made by Warwick-based developer Harper Crewe.
It would include 88 homes for the open market and 38 affordable homes, each with between one and five bedrooms.
The homes would be built on around five hectares – around seven football pitches – of brownfield land, where most remnants of the colliery have been demolished.
Nottinghamshire County Council say they aren’t happy with several aspects the proposed roads, including lack of parking and the inadequate width of some roads, drives and garages.
Council officers have also expressed concern about the development so close to the Grade II listed headstocks.
“The principle of any housing development on this site has the potential to harm the setting of the listed headstocks as it would encroach upon its industrial setting, diminish the historic legibility of the site and interrupt key views of the heritage asset in the immediate vicinity,” a report says.
The pit operated between 1922 and 2003 and became one of the most productive in Britain, with almost a million tonnes of coal produced annually at its peak.
The headstocks have been listed by Historic England as they were once state-of-the-art and were the tallest in England at over 200 feet, although they are now facing vandalism.
Clipstone Parish Council has also raised several concerns about pressure on local amenities, saying: “Medical facilities for residents are already stretched”.
The application has been called to planning committee by council leader Councillor Paul Peacock (Lab), who represents Clipstone.