Mill transformation among the winners

Mar 1 2008 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A MIRFIELD mill development was among the winners at a regional property awards.

Ledgard Bridge Mills won the class for Transformation of the Year in the Residential Prop Awards ceremony at the Queen’s Hotel in Leeds.

Richard Binks, of developer Binks Vertical, received the award at the event, which also raised £70,000 for the Yorkshire region of the Variety Club Children’s Charity.

The £7m development at Primrose Hill, Huddersfield – turning a rundown estate into 79 new homes with energy-saving features for social housing group Yorkshire Housing – was a runner-up in the category for best innovation.

At Ledgard Bridge Mills, Binks Vertical undertook a £20m scheme to transform a disused textile mill on Back Station Road into 100 flats.

Binks Vertical beat two major schemes in Leeds – Buckingham House at Headingley and Clarence Dock in the city centre – to take the title.

Binks Vertical now has plans to convert Blakeridge Mills, Batley, into 380 flats. There will be 355 one-bedroom flats and 25 with two bedrooms. Outline planning approval has also been granted for 120 homes on the site in the £34m scheme.

The awards evening was hosted by YTV presenter Christine Talbot and broadcaster Roopa Rajani, who presents The Best of Bollywood on BBC Radio Leeds.

Part of the hotel was transformed into a Bollywood film set for the event.