Former Whittle Colliery coal mine is sold for £2.3m

May 14 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

A RELIC of the North East’s proud coal mining heritage was sold for £2.34m yesterday when it came under the auctioneer’s hammer in London.

The 56-acre former Whittle Colliery near Alnwick, Northumberland, topped its £2m reserve price at an auction handled by leading property consultants Colliers CRE.

Four separate bidders vied for the redundant mining site which closed 11 years ago, after 14 parties had expressed an interest prior to the sale.

Whittle, located just off the A1 near Shilbottle, is estimated to still have 2.5 million tonnes of coal reserves worth about £400m at today’s prices.

However, the prospect of the site being brought back into coal production – either as an opencast or drift mine – appeared highly unlikely last night.

Simon Riggall, chief auctioneer at Colliers CRE, said virtually none of the interested parties had indicated a desire to mine the site again, and it was more likely to be developed for leisure or holiday purposes.

The former pit, which was once closely linked to the nearby Shilbottle Colliery, which closed in the 1980s, was one of more than 100 lots sold to the highest bidders at yesterday’s sale.

Mr Riggall was unable to give any details of the buyer and said any future development plans for the site were only speculation at this stage.

Whittle and Shilbottle Collieries were once renowned for producing some of the best steam coal in the UK.

Much of the Whittle site has been cleared, with large areas of hard-standing created, and there is a concrete roadway running the length of the site. Since it closed in 1997, it has had a chequered history, with ambitious plans for leisure development failing to go ahead.

In 2005, businessman and then owner Nigel Smith announced £20m plans to redevelop it with a hotel, log cabins, forest walks and fishing lakes, creating up to 150 jobs.

But a formal application to restore the site by bringing in 260,000 tons of soil and hardcore was later withdrawn.

It has been marketed as a leisure development opportunity, and Alnwick District Council is willing to consider a scheme involving a holiday lodge and hotel complex.

Last night, Mr Riggall said: “Of the 13 or 14 people we spoke to in the run-up to the sale, with one possible exception, I would say no-one was interested in re-opening Whittle Colliery for coal production. Most of the interest seemed to be in a lodge or hotel development.

“The planners at Alnwick Council have been very helpful and the odds are that any development will follow the lines they are suggesting.

“There are not many former coal mines for sale and so it will be interesting to find out what eventually happens up there.”

Colliers CRE normally sell public sector commercial property, and next week, at an auction in South Yorkshire, they will offer Northumberland County Council’s former Essendene care home in Ashington to the highest bidder.