Plans to breathe new life into abandoned Halesowen colliery now wildlife haven

Proposals have been lodged for the site of historic New Hawne Colliery, in Hayseech Road, which contains three listed buildings which would be refurbished and restored.

Plans have been submitted to Dudley Council for a mixed use industrial development with buildings suitable for industrial or storage and distribution along with offices.

The site ceased to be a colliery in 1926 and was used as an open cast mine and then a council storage depot until the mid to later part of the last century.

Since it was abandoned it has become overgrown with trees and other vegetation including Japanese Knotweed.

The buildings on the site, an office building, fan house and engine house are considered to be the only remaining group of listed colliery buildings in the Black Country.

The council had previously dismissed inquiries for housing on the site on grounds including preserving nature, the historic value of the landscape and coal mining legacy.

The buildings have become dilapidated and vandalised resulting in further discussions on how their preservation would form part of a new application as part of an industrial development.

If the new scheme s given the go-ahead all three would be developed with the office and engine house buildings refurbished for commercial use while the fan house would be preserved with safety glass and an information board as a focal point for the public to learn more about the history of the site.

Building work would take place on two sections of the sites.

The plans state: “Whilst it is acknowledged that the development would reintroduce employment development, which would extend closer to existing dwellings to the east of Hawne Lane, a significant buffer of woodland would remain.

“The layout and mix of uses has regard for the prevailing character of the area and surrounding land use.”

But the 23-acre site has become a haven for wildlife, including owls, bats kestrels, foxes and badgers as well as housing a variety of trees.

Public meetings were held in previous decades by Halesowen Township Council and Halesowen Community Forum about its future.

According to local historians different accounts were given for its demise. The mine flooded either in 1921 or during the 1926 general strike and did not open again.