Ex-colliery country park plan set to be rejected

A proposed layout of the country park and holiday lodges has been presented in a report to a council planning committee

Plans to transform a former colliery into a country park and holiday destination in Staffordshire are set to be rejected.

A visitor centre is also proposed, along with the holiday park with 100 wooden lodges, following the 1960 closure of Brereton Colliery - a site that has become grassland.

The country park would act as "an alternative" to Cannock Chase, a statement in the application said.

But the proposed development "by virtue of its scale, siting and design would fail to preserve the openness of the Green Belt", a report to the district council said.

The application was recommended for refusal by council officers and will be considered by the planning committee on Wednesday.

The local authority has received more than a dozen objections to the proposals, which raised concerns about a potential increase in anti-social behaviour, litter, traffic on Colliery Road and the ecological impact of the scheme.

Friends of Cannock Chase has objected due to highway safety concerns, pedestrian safety risks, proximity to ancient woodland and pressure on the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Three men were killed when water flooded a level of the mine in 1908

The colliery site has become grassland, with some woodland to the south, after restoration proposals were approved in 1998.

The country park has been proposed for a 28-hectare (69-acre) site on the south east side of Colliery Road.

Car parking spaces and the visitor centre, including a shop and cafe, are included in the application, as well as the holiday park with the lodges, new woodland planting and small ponds.

Income from the proposed lodges would help to fund the new park and visitor centre, according to the design and access statement.

The report to the committee said the benefits would not outweigh the harm to the green belt and that "very special circumstances to justify approval of the application have not been demonstrated to exist".

"As to the economic and social benefits of the proposal it is considered that only very limited weight should be afforded to these factors," it added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.