MULTI-million pound plans to transform a Slaithwaite mill have been submitted for planning consent.
The Hartley Property Group has put its proposals to redevelop Globe Mills into an innovative multi-use space to Kirklees Council.
The group says it will “revitalise the village centre by providing new employment in the area”.
If backed by Kirklees it will boast the Globe Innovation Centre , which it hopes will become a regional beacon of entrepreneurship.
There will also be office space, a gallery, doctors’ surgery, retail units and a pedestrian footbridge linking Globe One and Globe Two and a new pedestrian footbridge over the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.
The Slaithwaite town centre complex has been empty since 2006 but dates back to 1887 when it was a worsted-spinning mill.
Alan Lewis’ property company, the Hartley Group, has joined forces with Huddersfield University, the 3M group and the council to create an innovation centre for expanding hi-tech businesses.
It is intended that Globe Mills – dubbed SiliColne Valley – will be a sister building to the university’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre in Firth Street, Huddersfield.
A planning statement submitted with the application says: “Key to the principal draw of this development will be the focus to attract and support entrepreneurial businesses and innovating technology starter businesses.
“The area has already been established as a ‘hot spot’ for sustainable technology with 45 sustainable technology businesses operating within a 15 mile radius of Globe Mills and as a result it is expected that the Globe Innovation centre will increase this local sector by up to 50%.”
The empty mill “represents 60% of all underused properties in the village centre.”
It adds: “It is suggested that redevelopment of this site represents the most important catalyst in the village centre enhancement for Slaithwaite.”
The top three floors of Globe One and Two will form part of the Globe Innovation Centre with flexible units and smaller starter units.
Globe Two will house ‘grow on units and mature company offices’.
The lower ground-floors will be suitable for local businesses, cafes and independent shops while an Artisan Hall is designed for local arts, crafts and speciality foods and goods.
Public consultation for the mill’s redevelopment has been supportive, with residents “feeling strongly about improving the canal side” and there is a “strong opinion that empty buildings need to be addressed and renovated”.
The planning application is open to public comment via Kirklees Council until June 8.
