Decision due on £750,000 treehouse tribute planned in grounds of hall

The £750,000 proposed development at Bowcliffe Hall, for a treehouse conference and corporate hospitality facility, is inspired by aviation pioneer Robert Blackburn and his links with the 200-year-old building, based near Wetherby.

The project was designed by Paul Mitchell at the Harris Partnership in Wakefield and forms part of the redevelopment of the hall as office space.

Consultation has been carried out with local residents and the plans are due to go before planners in early September.

Although the hall has offered office space since it was sold out of private hands in the 1950s, previous developments have been piecemeal.

The first £500,000 phase of renovation to create 31 offices has already been completed at the estate, which is based in Bramham on the outskirts of Leeds.

The second phase of the transformation will pay tribute to Mr Blackburn, who once owned Bowcliffe Hall, with the creation of an art-deco dining room themed on a pilots’ mess, where food will be served to tenants and visitors.

The final phase will comprise the restoration and redesign of the 19th century landscaped gardens where Jonathan Turner, chief executive of the Bayford Group, who owns Bowcliffe Hall, wants to incorporate the treehouse development.

Mr Blackburn bought Bowcliffe Hall in 1917 and his career saw him build his first monoplane in 1909 in Leeds. He gave regular demonstration flights to huge crowds at Roundhay Park in Leeds before flying over to Bradford and back. In 1914 he founded an aircraft manufacturing company which, on his death, became part of Hawker Siddeley and, later, British Aerospace.