LETTER: Put plans to local people first

The people of Clipstone, who have had to live with this eyesore since 2003 and continue to do so daily, have many times voted overwhelmingly to demolish and clear the site, but it appears that faceless people, mainly from outside of the area, seem determined to thwart them.

Regarding the site itself, apart from the height of the headgear I cannot imagine there being anything of importance on site historically that is not present and cannot be seen in any other mining museum of which there are many.

In fact, the nearest of which is as close as three miles away in Pleasley.

As for turning the site into an enormous visitor attraction the first thing that should be determined surely is how the people of Clipstone feel about the prospect, in particular how they feel about the thousands of extra vehicles which would no doubt clog up every road up for miles around on a daily basis?

The fact is that traffic through King’s Clipstone is already a nightmare for the residents, so unless a bypass is going to be constructed to cope with traffic back to the A614, and a bypass is going to be constructed around Mansfield Woodhouse to cope with the volume of expected traffic back to the M1, there are going to be many unhappy people around the area.

It is paramount then, I would argue, that this whole proposal should firstly be determined at a local level, and if it is overwhelmingly rejected then may I suggest the Heritage Lottery Fund pay to have the whole kit and caboodle dismantled, carted to their headquarters and re-erected in their car park to afford them the full benefit and pleasure of the proposed leisure development first hand.

Barry Martin

Forest Towm