MULTI-MILLION pound development plans for Slaithwaite seem to have public backing.

More than 120 people attended a public meeting over plans to turn a former Slaithwaite textile mill into an entrepreneurial centre.

And the vast majority were fully behind the proposals by the Hartley Group, owners of Globe Mill, who want to revamp the 125-year-old mill, which closed seven years ago.

Chairman Alan Lewis CBE presented details of the plans to the meeting at the University of Huddersfield’s 3M Buckley innovation Centre. The planned centre would link in with the university.

The plan is that the Globe Innovation Centre will take over 54,000 square feet on the top three floors of the refurbished mill building in Bridge Street by the end of this year in a move dubbed locally as SiliColne Valley.

The owners also want to attract owners of local businesses, cafes and independent shops to occupy the other two floors.

Local councillor Prof Paul Salveson chaired the meeting as he is chairman of the Colne Valley Area Committee.

He said: “To get so many people to a public meeting shows the level of interest.

“I serve on the planning committee and my job was simply to chair the meeting, but there was a level of support for the plan.

“We asked people if they were fully in favour, in favour with some reservations or totally against it and no-one was opposed to the plan.

“There are obvious concerns about traffic and the impact on other businesses and the developer has taken those concerns on board.”