Post by Madhatter on Apr 15, 2014 23:37:45 GMT
THE iconic Daw Mill Colliery could be given a new lease of life if plans to transform the site into a business and industrial hub are given the go-ahead.
Owners Harworth Estates have been in talks with local residents and North Warwickshire Borough and Warwickshire County councils about the "most appropriate long-term use of the site".
And at a public consultation meeting in Arley last week, representatives were invited to give their views on proposals to 'develop employment and storage uses'.
The feedback will help form a formal application, which will include plans on how to utilise some of the now defunct colliery's remaining infrastructure.
"Since the appalling fire at Daw Mill I have been in close contact with the company involved with cleaning up the site and making it safe," said North Warwickshire MP Dan Byles.
"That has been the priority so far. Now we need to look ahead to determine what the best use for the site is.
"We have to remember that this has been an industrial mining site for many decades and it isn't automatically the case that all potential options are open.
"Much of the land has been contaminated over the years for example, and will require substantial clean-up.
"It is right that the borough council asked Harworth Estates to present some of the options to the community in an open forum, and I am confident that no decision on the future of the site will be made without further consultation with council and with the local community."
Labour Parliamentary candidate Mike O'Brien added: "I have been very cautious about what ought to happen on the former Daw Mill Colliery site.
"The temptation is to say that we did well 15 years ago by agreeing to open Hams Hall and the Birch Coppice site, but they were very different.
"Both of them were close to motorway junctions.
"The Daw Mill Colliery site is not near a motorway junction, the road links are through small villages, along narrow winding roads and involve negotiating junctions that are already very congested at peak times and unsuitable for the biggest lorries."
Daw Mill Colliery was closed in March last year following a huge underground blaze at the Furnace End pit.
Read more: www.tamworthherald.co.uk/New-lease-life-Daw-site/story-20903614-detail/story.html#ixzz2z08Uvmum
Owners Harworth Estates have been in talks with local residents and North Warwickshire Borough and Warwickshire County councils about the "most appropriate long-term use of the site".
And at a public consultation meeting in Arley last week, representatives were invited to give their views on proposals to 'develop employment and storage uses'.
The feedback will help form a formal application, which will include plans on how to utilise some of the now defunct colliery's remaining infrastructure.
"Since the appalling fire at Daw Mill I have been in close contact with the company involved with cleaning up the site and making it safe," said North Warwickshire MP Dan Byles.
"That has been the priority so far. Now we need to look ahead to determine what the best use for the site is.
"We have to remember that this has been an industrial mining site for many decades and it isn't automatically the case that all potential options are open.
"Much of the land has been contaminated over the years for example, and will require substantial clean-up.
"It is right that the borough council asked Harworth Estates to present some of the options to the community in an open forum, and I am confident that no decision on the future of the site will be made without further consultation with council and with the local community."
Labour Parliamentary candidate Mike O'Brien added: "I have been very cautious about what ought to happen on the former Daw Mill Colliery site.
"The temptation is to say that we did well 15 years ago by agreeing to open Hams Hall and the Birch Coppice site, but they were very different.
"Both of them were close to motorway junctions.
"The Daw Mill Colliery site is not near a motorway junction, the road links are through small villages, along narrow winding roads and involve negotiating junctions that are already very congested at peak times and unsuitable for the biggest lorries."
Daw Mill Colliery was closed in March last year following a huge underground blaze at the Furnace End pit.
Read more: www.tamworthherald.co.uk/New-lease-life-Daw-site/story-20903614-detail/story.html#ixzz2z08Uvmum