A DEVELOPER has been told to hurry up and convert a listed Huddersfield mill into flats.

Council planners yesterday gave the green light for 69 homes at Newsome Mills – named one of the most at-risk Victorian buildings in the country.

The Grade-II listed building has fallen into disrepair since it closed in 1983. The mill’s clock has not worked since it was vandalised in 2007.

Kirklees Council’s Huddersfield Planning Sub-committee yesterday gave permission to Manchester-based Panorama Living to develop the site.

The company was granted similar permission in 2006 under its previous name Royalle Estates.

However, the proposal had to go back to Kirklees after the three-year permission period expired.

Sub-committee member Clr Mohan Sokhal yesterday urged Panorama to get a move on.

“I’m concerned that we gave planning permission in 2006 and that nothing has happened in more than four years,” said the Greenhead Labour man.

“We need to see something happening there. The building is deteriorating because it’s been empty for a long time now.”

The sub-committee then voted to approve the development.

Clr Andrew Cooper, who represents Newsome on Kirklees, welcomed the news yesterday.