Ex-miners tap a rich seam by letting grass grow under their feet

Stan Crawford says he never aspired to become an environmental crusader. His life, like those of his fellow coal miners, was one of limited possibilities.

"It was just digging coal," he says matter-of-factly. "Where I was, you graduated from secondary school on Friday, and went to work in the mine on Monday."

Next month, Mr Crawford, who spent 16 years hacking away at the earth a mile underground, is off to Romania at the personal invitation of Prince Radu, to advise His Serene Highness on what the country can do to reverse the fortunes of coal-dependent towns in Transylvania. He's also advised a tribe in Brazil on sustainable development issues and hosted delegates from Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Peru and other nations.

Mr Crawford is himself based in Ollerton in Nottinghamshire, which is becoming a frequent stop for government agencies and private industry groups - and they're not there for the weather. The attraction, rather, is Sherwood Energy Village, or SEV, a mixed-used, environmentally friendly development on the site of the town's former coal mine, which closed in 1994 with the loss of 600 jobs. The SEV, of which Mr Crawford is executive director, has since become the driving force behind the town's revival.

More than 500 jobs in various industries have already been created, and Mr Crawford expects that number to rise to more than 1,500 by 2008 as new businesses open on the premises. What was once a grey industrial wasteland has been reclaimed and transformed into an expanse of green parkland and environmentally sound buildings. The Herculean task involved excavating the entire site and recycling more than 100,000 tons of concrete. The next phase will see the construction of 196 eco-friendly homes, designed to attract families and workers to the SEV, which was last year named the winner of the DTI's inaugural Enterprising Britain award.

Today, Ollerton stands out as a rare example of a community that has not only recovered from the loss of its traditional source of employment, but is prospering. Yet when British Coal announced the mine's closure one Friday in 1994, the prospects were bleak. With a population of 15,000, the town was left reliant on its only other industry, hosiery, in which many of the miners' wives worked. (Ollerton's two hosiery plants would also later close, unable to compete with cheap imports.)

"Someone made a decision, and we had no say whatsoever," Mr Crawford recalls. He and other workers were determined not to let that happen again.

After public meetings, priorities emerged. "We wanted to do three things: create jobs, diversify the economic base, and do it without the muck that mining produces," Mr Crawford says. More importantly: "It was about having a say, it was about democracy."

True to their word, when he and several other ex-miners and community activists set up SEV in 1996, they did so as an industrial and provident society, a partnership in which profits are invested back into the business. With a £50,000 interest-free loan from British Coal, they purchased 120 acres of land, including the colliery site.

Even as Mr Crawford whisks around the village in his Toyota Prius hybrid car, evangelising about green roofs and rainwater harvesting, he insists that he and his colleagues are no eco-warriors. Buildings may be forbidden from having air conditioning, and turbines and pumps - rather than gas - may be used to heat them. But he insists the emphasis on sustainable development has been a natural progression from a purely economic focus.

"What we were banking on was that if business embraced these ideas, it would have a benefit on their bottom line. For me it was just a tool for economic generation." However, he admits: "As we've gone along, it does rub off on you."

Private industry has begun to buy in. RiskDisk, a credit report company, was the first arrive, and now employs more than 100 people at its call centre. Center Parcs, the forest holiday specialist, moved its 350-employee headquarters here in 2004.

The next stage of the SEV is the e-Centre, a sleek crescent-shaped building with a massive winter garden, set to open in a couple of months. As he looks at it, Mr Crawford can't keep the grin from his face. "I'm like a kid in a sandpit," he says.

Certainly better than a coal pit.

Enterprising Britain 2006 is a nationwide competition to find the place that best exemplifies the enterprise spirit. Visit sbs.gov.uk/ enterprisingbritain, call the DTI on 020 7215 5000, or contact your local regional development agency.