PLANS have been drawn up to redevelop two prominent former industrial sites for housing.
Developers have tabled plans to convert a disused mill at Water Street, Hinchliffe Mill into seven houses with garages and build an additional 12 homes with garages on the site.
In a separate scheme, textile dyeing firm James Dyson Ltd has submitted plans to turn part of its old premises at Manchester Road, Linthwaite, into three houses.
The proposals for Cross Mill at Hinchcliffe Mill – formerly occupied by textile firm Moorhouse & Brook – have been tabled by developer Henry & Hurst Holdings Ltd.
An earlier application for the site in 2006 called for the conversion and extension of existing mill buildings to provide 19 houses. It also sought to build two more homes.
That scheme was approved following a planning inquiry. But a report by architects One 17 supporting the latest application said the 2006 plan was no longer commercially viable.
Instead, the proposal is to convert the existing mill to provide seven houses with garages and build another 12 new homes with garages. Permission is also sought to demolish a former blending and mending shed, storage and office buildings to make way for the new build.
The report said the earlier scheme had established most of the principles of converting the site to residential use and that objections on highways grounds had been overcome.
This latest scheme would retain the mill pond and the main building on the site, Cross Mill.
The report said there would also be “small, carefully detailed improvements” to the natural landscape “to provide something softer and more attractive than was the case when the mill complex was in use”.
The Linthwaite plan calls for part of the James Dyson site to be used for housing and another building to be converted to a shop or offices.
James Dyson Ltd left the site last January and moved to more modern premises at Leeds Road.
The Linthwaite site, which is in a conservation area, is currently occupied by a pumping station, a garage and water tanks– the latter decorated with “public art.”
The company has submitted an outline application to Kirklees Council to build three houses on part of the site fronting Manchester Road. A separate application seeks approval to convert the garage into offices or a shop.
A report by planning and development consultancy David Storrie Associates said the proposals were “appropriate” bearing in mind the land was surrounded by housing and commercial premises.
It said the design of the houses would reflect the adjacent Victorian stone terrace while existing access would be used to take cars off the road to park at the rear of the houses. The report said the garage had been considered for housing – but the single-storey property was not easily converted and it would not be cost-effective to demolish it and build new.
The report said the new use would have “no detrimental impact” on existing business premises nearby and that traffic would not be “materially increased.”
