PROPOSALS for a new shop unit in Brierley Hill have been withdrawn after a report raised concerns about mine workings.

The plan for the unit on land adjacent to Calewood Road was in an area of high risk due to known historical mine workings including the Grosvenor Opencast site which operated as recently as 1971 and the Amblecote Opencast site which dates to the 1960s.

A report prepared for a previous planning application on the site also identified abandoned mine entry shafts in the surrounding area.

In a report for planners, James Smith from the Coal Authority said: “Based on the results of intrusive investigations carried out at the site, the Mining Investigation Report identifies the potential for any mine workings in the Lower Heathen and/or Old Mine Clay coal seams to pose a risk of surface instability. 

“The report goes on to recommend the undertaking of a drilling and grouting exercise on a grid pattern to stabilise/consolidate the workings in both of these seams.”

While the authority did not object to the new building, to the side of an existing row of shops, it insisted construction could only begin once remedial works to stabilise the surface had been completed.

The authority also identified a possible risk from gas which can be present wherever shallow or surface mining or coal reserves are located.

While no gas had been detected at the site Mr Smith added: “Whether or not specific emissions have been noted by the Coal Authority, local planning authorities should seek their own technical advice on the gas hazards that may exist, and appropriate measures to be implemented.”

The proposal also attracted three letters of objection from residents who raised concerns about traffic and parking problems at the junction of Calewood Road and Woods Lane which one objector described as ‘a narrow, sharply curved road’.