The developers who wanted to demolish one of Huddersfield’s most significant landmarks – fire-ravaged Newsome Mills – have backed down after fierce protests.
Mill owner Panorama Living Ltd applied for listed building consent to demolish the ground floor of the mill and its weaving sheds – leaving the mill’s iconic tower intact.
But its plans were opposed by heritage groups as well as local residents and councillors.
Campaign co-ordinator Diane Sims said Panorama Living’s plans to build houses after November’s fire would leave the clock tower standing alone and “out of context” and “very strange.”
Kirklees councillor Andrew Cooper (Green, Newsome) said he was delighted the plans had been withdrawn saying: “These plans were opposed by almost everyone and have now been withdrawn in their entirety. The question is what happens next. Effectively, we are back to square one.
“So far the company has viewed the community as a problem whereas it’s actually an asset to them."
He added: “There’s a real shortage of affordable family homes in the area and that is what I would like to see take place there.
“My appeal is to sit down with the developers and to come up with a way forward.”
There was no shortage of critics of the plans. James Hughes, senior conservation adviser at the Victorian Society, said: “Newsome Mills has been on our radar for some time, and even featured in our 2008 Top 10 Endangered Buildings List.
“The fire last November was truly devastating and a real setback for campaigners, however it need not dramatically alter the fate of Newsome Mills."
He added: “Since the fire the upper storeys of the mill have been dismantled so no longer pose as a danger to the area, and the beloved clock tower has been declared safe, as well as the archway, lodge and office building.
“These listed buildings have been through so much and campaigners have fought for more than a decade to secure their futures, this is the tipping point.
“The proposal for substantial demolition would cause unjustifiable harm to the grade II-listed mill and should not be permitted. The mill is a critical building and must instead form the starting point for sympathetic redevelopment of the site.”
Huddersfield Civic Society opposed the plans too saying: “The tower is a very significant feature of the setting of Huddersfield, second only to the Victoria Jubilee Tower on Castle Hill, and must be preserved, along with its clock faces and bell.”
Meanwhile, the Council for British Archaeology said the buildings were an important part of the region’s textile heritage which should be converted rather than demolished.
