‘No’ to mill plan

Jan 5 2008 by Chris Burgess, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TWO more old mills in the valleys are in line for residential conversions – but only one has got the go-ahead.

Developers had hoped to put flats up at Clough Road Mills near Slaithwaite and at the former Hinchliffe Mills near Holmfirth.

But the backers behind the Hinchliffe Mill proposal were left disappointed after Kirklees’ planners told them to go back to the drawing board as fears over traffic congestion continue to dog all planning applications in the Holme Valley.

Ex-mayor and Holme Valley South Area Committee member, Clr Donald Firth, said the roads around Hinchliffe Mills were already narrow and planners had asked the applicants to come up with something with fewer apartments.

He said: “There’s roughly 20 apartments so you’re looking at up to 40 extra cars – where are they going to put them?

“If there was no mill here and it was a green field site, I feel nothing would get through.”

And Clr Firth added that he would prefer to see small industry in old mill sites.

“I do feel that too many of our mill sites have been made into apartments,” he said. “If we do get a turnaround where’s the small industry going to go? All these brown field sites will be gone.”

But over in the Colne Valley, Britannia Developments have been given approval to convert Clough Road Mill, currently being used by a small textile company, and to build two new blocks, creating a total of 74 apartments.

The textile company is re-locating to smaller premises in the Huddersfield area.

Valley councillor Robert Iredale, said although there were concerns about traffic, the chairman of the Colne Valley Area Committee, Clr Nicola Turner, had been a key-player in negotiating an improved deal for locals.

He said: “I do think there’s too many apartments but I have to say the developer has contributed to improving the school and they’ve put £7,000 towards improving a pathway nearby.

“We have concerns about the extra traffic going up to the motorway but we thought we’d got as much out of the developer for the community as we could.

“There’s no other use for that mill,” he added.