The future of Mount Wellington Mine, at Twelveheads, Bissoe, is under review by Carrick district council.

Councillors discussed last Wednesday what could be done with the former mine so future possible developers could have a clear idea of its future potential.

The first option approved by the development control committee was to find funding to demolish the existing buildings - a cost estimated at up to £250,000.

South West Regional development Agency has said it currently has no funds available for such a project and Carrick council is not prepared to fund this scheme, meaning that other funding will have to be found.

The second scheme discussed was the idea of a part demolition, reducing the buildings' heights to improve the unsightly nature of the site.

But this idea is subject to the part demolition not affecting the future use of the remaining buildings.

Whether this is the case or not is something which Carrick council plans to investigate further.

The final option is to find a use for the buildings as they stand, if the first two ideas were found to be unworkable.

In his report to the committee, Carrick's head of development, Karl Roberts, said the site was clearly not suitable for a residential development.

The committee's comments and the report's findings will now be looked at by Carrick's full cabinet.

Mount Wellington Mine has not operated for more than 10 years and at one point looked set to be turned into a nature reserve.