The rebuilding of Brinsley’s historic headstocks is expected to receive 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, 8 January.
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 placed the original wooden headstocks into storage in December 2023 after concerns that it was becoming unsafe. The oldest parts dated back as far as 1872.
The new headstocks will retain some of the original parts and will serve as a “direct like-for-like replacement of the previously demolished structures,” the planning application states.
The council also plans to build metal fencing around the perimeter of the site, which 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 and £220,000, with six-monthly £500 inspections required thereafter.
The towers will measure 11m in height and 7.4m in width, covering an area of approximately 35m in length, while the new boundary fencing will measure 1.2m in height.
In documents, the council states: “The proposed structures of the headstocks are a direct like-for-like replacement of the previously removed towers, with the original head gears being reinstated within the new towers.
“The towers and supporting infrastructure will be constructed of hardwood timber beams, with metal fencing around 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 of the previously removed towers, it is considered that the proposed towers will have no additional negative impact on the surrounding area, especially given their 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 has since been reclaimed and is now 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 regarding the structure’s potential future – 70 per cent of respondents opted for a complete timber replacement, 12 per cent preferred a steel replacement, 14 per cent chose an art installation, and four per cent selected ‘other’.
