Erection of a Replacement Extension, Manchester Road, Heywood, OL10

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Coal mining investigation for a Heywood extension

For a replacement extension at Manchester Road in Heywood, Demeter assessed suspected unrecorded coal seams and proposed rotary investigation. The initial borehole was completed in September 2022, proving bedrock at 4m and no coal in the upper 30m. The assessment concluded that the worked-seam risk was negligible and no further assessment was warranted. The condition-discharge application remained pending as of November 2023.

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Due to the site being within a ‘Development High Risk Area’ the Coal Authority raised an object to the application until the applicant had submitted a Coal Mining Risk Assessment (CMRA).

The aim of a CMRA is to identify any coal mining legacy risks and set out a proposed mitigation strategy to demonstrate to the LPA that the site can be made safe and stable for the proposed development. In some cases it may be possible to ensure that the development layout avoids recorded high risk features.

The published geology indicated that the drift soils were Devensian Till. The solod geology wads was underlain by the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation of the Westphalian Epoch.

The borehole section sheets published by the BGS were reviewed and no boreholes in close proximity to the site were available.

Data provided by the Coal Authority confirmed the site was in an areas where unrecorded coal seams were suspected.

The CMRA concludes that there was a risk to the development from the worked seams and proposed either further investigation. It was proposed that initially a single rotary borehole to 20mbgl would be sunk with a further two if there was evidence of coal seams.

The report was submitted to support the application, the recommendations for site investigation were accepted by the Coal Authority and the objection to the development was raised by the Coal Authority (see the Officers Report).

The site investigation was undertaken in September 2022, the initial borehole proved bedrock at 4mbgl with no evidence of coal in the upper 30m, it was concluded that the risk from worked seams were negligible and no further assessment was warranted.

The report was submitted to discharge the coal mining condition (23/00792/DOC) at as of November 2023 the application was pending.