Latifa Yedroudj, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
The rebuilding of Brinsley’s historic headstocks is expected to get final planning permission at a council meeting next week.
Broxtowe Borough Council will meet to decide its own planning application at a meeting on Wednesday, January 8.
Plans drawn up by the authority will see the landmark rebuilt as a full wooden structure at a cost of £220,000.
The council dismantled the structure and put the original wooden headstocks into storage in December 2023 after concerns it was becoming unsafe. The oldest parts dated back as far as 1872.
The new headstocks will retain some of the original parts and make for a “direct like for like replacement of the previously demolished structures”, the planning application reads.
The council also plans to build metal fencing around the perimeter of the site, it was previously surrounded by a low wooden barrier.
The full replacement of the towers and fencing is expected to cost the council between £170,000 to £220,000 and six monthly £500 inspections.
The towers will measure 11m in height and be 7.4m in width and cover an area of around 35m in length, with new boundary fencing measuring 1.2m in height.
In documents, the council says: “The proposed structures of the headstocks are a direct like-for-like replacement with the previously removed towers with the original heads gears being reinstated within the new towers.
“The towers and supporting infrastructure will be constructed of hardwood timber beams with metal fencing to the platforms.
“Given the skeletal nature of the proposal along with the natural construction materials and the fact that this is a like-for-like replacement with the previously removed towers, it is considered that the proposed towers will have no additional negative impact on the surrounding area especially given its location within a Local Nature Reserve and a Local Wildlife Area.”
Brinsley Colliery, off Mansfield Road near the village of Brinsley, north of Eastwood, was opened around 1842 and closed as a working pit in 1934 when the seams were exhausted. The shafts were kept open until 1970.
The site is now reclaimed and is a picnic site and conservation area, located within the Greenbelt.
Local campaigners, including the heritage group Friends of Brinsley Headstocks, had previously called for the return of the landmark.
A consultation last May received 747 responses about the structure’s potential future – 70 per cent of respondents opted for a complete timber replacement, with 12 per cent preferring a steel replacement, 14 per cent choosing an art installation and four per cent choosing ‘other’.
