keep operating and became one of the last in the area to keep producing coal albeit at a greatly reduced scale. However, with the decline of the mine, the village suffered high levels of unemployment and poverty throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. The colliery closed briefly between 1993 and 1994 before finally closing in 2007. In 2012 a coal reclamation project started on the Rossington Colliery spoil tip, this was expected to take up to 5 years to complete. In September 2012 planning permission was given by the borough council to build a £100 million, 1,200 home, housing development including a primary school and hotel on the colliery site. Construction of houses on the site began in May 2015. Rail transport The 'Old Village' and 'New Village' are separated by the East Coast Main Line. There are only two crossing points over the railway between the old and new villages: the road bridge on Stripe Road and the level crossing where West End Lane becomes Station Road. Rossington railway station was closed for regular services in 1958 but a few special trains stopped there until the late 1960s. The station buildings and platforms remained in place until the early 1980s, when the platforms, to the south of the level crossing, were dug up, and the old signal box that stood on the north east side of the crossing was demolished. A few years earlier, the signalling had been automated, and control of the crossing had moved to Doncaster PSB. When the old signal box was in operation, the crossing was controlled by a large set of wooden gates, which were operated by the signalman who had to leave the signal box and open and close the gates by hand. By the mid-1950s, these gates were opened and closed by a large wheel in the signal box. These gates were replaced by automated barriers controlled from Doncaster PSB at the same time as the signal box was closed; however, some older residents of Rossington still refer to the crossing gates. The only surviving building is the old station cottages, which stand on the north west side of the crossing and are now private dwellings. Rail Port In the first decade of the 21st century a plan was proposed for an 'eco town' of over ten thousand homes, to the southwest of Rossington, the plan was opposed by the majority of