500 jobs on the way as Notts mixed-used scheme gets green light

A major mixed-use scheme next to Sherwood Forest has been given the green light by Newark & Sherwood District Council.

Developer Harworth Group has secured planning permission for a large mixed-use redevelopment of the former Thoresby Colliery in Nottinghamshire.

The 450-acre site, next to the historic Sherwood Forest, will provide up to 800 new homes and 250,000 sq ft of employment space.

The first phase of residential land, for approximately 150 homes, is expected to be ready for sale to housebuilders as serviced plots towards the end of 2018.

Harworth says it will take around ten years to fully develop and the site.

Harworth acquired the site in October 2015, following the closure of the colliery – the Midlands’ final deep mine – in July 2015. The Company has spent the last two years undertaking site safety and security works, including demolishing redundant industrial structures, whilst masterplanning the site for future uses.

The current masterplan provides for new housing, a retirement village, a primary school, a 25-acre business park, leisure facilities, and a 300-acre country park and is expected to help create up to 500 jobs.

Owen Michaelson, chief executive of Harworth, said: “Securing a resolution to grant planning permission for both of these well-located major redevelopments, which will deliver homes, jobs and investment to the Midlands and North East, is a significant achievement for Harworth. It is also further demonstration of our team’s expertise in taking complex industrial sites and, through our planning expertise, transforming them into sustainable developments for the benefit of local communities.

“This type of planning success continues to underpin our strategy of maximising value gains from our significant land bank to drive long term value for shareholders, whilst cementing Harworth’s reputation as the leading provider of sustainable regeneration projects across the North of England and the Midlands.”