Homes on former colliery site get go-ahead

The housing estate will be built on the former Clipstone Colliery and the landmark headstocks will remain

Work to build a housing development on a former colliery in Nottinghamshire is set to go ahead after the scheme's community contributions were finalised.

Developer Harper Crewe submitted plans for more than 120 homes to be built at the Clipstone Colliery site off Mansfield Road in May 2023.

The new houses will be on the same site as the Clipstone Headstocks, which will remain in place.

The planning application was approved in October 2024 subject to the signing of financial contributions from the developer.

A masterplan drawing for the site was published in 2024

It has now been agreed that various payments, including £150,000 towards local bus service improvements, will be made and the plans have been formally approved, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

More than £174,000 will be used to improve and enhance existing community infrastructure and facilities in Clipstone, with about £90,000 due to be given to special educational needs and disabilities services to increase pupil capacity.

Sherwood Medical Partnership, which includes Crown Medical Centre, Forest Town Branch and Oak Tree Land Surgery, will also receive more than £123,000 to improve its premises, the LDRS said.

Newark and Sherwood District Council's planning officers previously recommended the scheme for refusal in July 2024 due to problems with proposed parking and roads.

According to the LDRS, there was also concern the homes would be too close to the Grade II listed headstocks nearby, which could lead to antisocial behaviour and pressure on local health and education services.

The decision was pushed back to October 2024, when the committee approved 126 homes to be built on the site subject to the signing of financial contributions from the developer.

The project will have 88 open-market homes alongside 38 affordable properties, each with between one and five bedrooms, the LDRS said.

Clipstone Colliery operated between 1922 and 2003 and was one of the most productive pits in Britain, producing almost a million tonnes of coal a year at its peak.

The headstocks are listed by Historic England and were the tallest in England at more than 200ft (60m).