New future for Maltby pit

The fuel firm wants to relocate one of its subsidiaries onto part of the Tickhill Road spot, closed earlier this year after a century of producing coal.

The wider site is also being listed as available employment land in Rotherham’s Local Plan and talks are ongoing with Rotherham Borough Council.

A planning application has been submitted by Hargreaves to use an 18,000 sq ft storage building for general industry.

A spokesman said: “Although the sale of mine methane assets has been widely reported in the media, Maltby Colliery Ltd is not intending to dispose of its surface assets.

“The colliery will continue to be responsible for restoration of the tip and the pit-head area.

“The draft sites and policies document, published for consultation by Rotherham Borough Council, identifies the pit head area as employment land in the Local Plan and it is proposed to move an existing Hargreaves subsidiary onto the site next year.”

The mothball announcement was made last December after a range of underground geological and safety issues. It meant 500 redundancies in April.

Planning documents submitted by the firm said: “This proposal seeks permission for a change of use of the existing store building to general industrial uses.

“This is so that AJS Contract Ltd, a subsidiary of Hargreaves, can locate and operate from the existing building and provide engineering services to the power generation industry.

“The planning application seeks to reuse of one of the buildings within its grounds for employment generating uses.

“The operation of the development will generate indirect and induced positive economic multiplier effects to the wider Maltby area.

“It will not result in harm to the green belt or its openness and constitutes sustainable economic development.”

Hargreaves — which has announced pre-tax profits of £52 million this year — also expects to recover mining materials from the site for about two more years.