A MAJOR repairs scheme to safeguard County Durham’s historic Pitman’s Parliament has been lodged with council planners.

Opened in 1915, Durham Miners Hall, also known as Redhills, housed a council chamber where colliery delegates took important decisions that transformed the area.

This ranged from building homes and welfare halls to setting up community hospitals and libraries.

In recent years, a campaign was launched to save the Grade II listed building after it was revealed urgent repairs were needed – with the site’s future hanging in the balance.

Repairs also aimed to pave the way for Durham Miners’ Association’s (DMA) wider vision to create a community and arts hub on the site.

Last year, Durham County Council supported the project, offering £1.1 million match-funding to compliment existing DMA fundraising.

Earlier this year, an initial lottery grant of £400,000 was confirmed to enable emergency repairs and allow progress towards a second stage of funding worth around £3.8 million.

In late March, the project took another step forward after a planning application was submitted to the county council for listed building consent for repairs on the site.

This includes repairs to the external fabric of the building, the roof of the council chamber and chimneys alongside works on roof coverings, stonework and exterior plumbing.

A heritage statement, submitted to council planners, notes “water ingress” in the roof of the council chamber and “breaches” in other parts of the building.

Works to the council chamber, which contains hundreds of seats, also includes replacing sections of the roof structure affected by “dry rot.”

Under the plans, a temporary roof is set to be put in place with all Westmorland slates replaced to match existing – with materials salvaged where possible.

Redhills was recently selected by Historic England as one of the 100 places that bring the country’s “rich and extraordinary history” to life.

A recent inspection indicated the building would be rendered unusable unless a full roof repair is carried out within the next five to ten years.

The repair programme has already been welcomed by the City of Durham Parish Council.

A letter to county planners, from the parish council’s planning committee, adds: “The heritage statement and its supporting documents set out graphically the nature of the problem and the proposed solution, which is designed to preserve this unique asset in a sensitive way.

“The problem is urgent and we hope this application can be approved with the minimum of delay.”

Durham County Council is expected to rule on the plans in coming months.

For more information, visit the council’s online planning portal and search planning reference DM/20/00760/LB