Plan revealed to demolish Yorkshire village mill and build homes in its place
A village mill in Yorkshire could be redeveloped as a housing estate if a new planning application is approved.
Wadsworth Mill in the south side of the Bronte Country village of Oxenhope is currently occupied by a spring manufacturer, George Emmott (Pawsons) Ltd.
That company has now submitted a planning application that will completely transform the site, off Jew Lane, into housing.
If approved, the existing mill building will be demolished and replaced with eight terraced houses. A further 14 houses would be built elsewhere on the site.
The properties will be a mix of three two bed houses, 12 three-bedroom houses and three four bedroom houses. There would be 48 parking spaces provided.
The application has now been submitted to Bradford Council.
In Bradford Council’s draft local plan, published several years ago, two housing sites are identified in Oxenhope that could provide up to 44 homes over the coming years. This site is not one of those proposed in the plan.
The application documents include a report that details how the 22 homes will effect traffic on and around narrow Jew Lane.
It claims that the removal of the industrial building will remove HGV traffic from the site, and lead to an increase in rush hour traffic accessing and leaving the site.
The application says: “The assessment demonstrates that the site is accessible by a range of transport modes.
“Bus services are available within approximately 300 metres of the site, while local amenities, services and recreational destinations are within reasonable walking and cycling distances.
“The development also includes the diversion and enhancement of the existing public right of way, providing a safer and more attractive pedestrian route through the site.
“A review of personal injury accident data for the period 2020–2024 identified no recorded accidents in the vicinity of the site, indicating no existing highway safety concerns.
“A total decrease of two and four two-way vehicle trips during the AM and PM peak hours, respectively, is forecast for the proposed residential development.
“This level of traffic would have a negligible impact on the local highway network.
“The development will have a negligible impact on the surrounding highway network, while delivering highway safety benefits through the removal of industrial HGV traffic, improvements to the site access, enhanced pedestrian facilities, and sustainable travel opportunities.
“The proposals are consistent with the National Planning Policy Framework, which states that development should only be refused on highway grounds where there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety or severe residual cumulative impacts.”
Under planning law, any new development needs to provide an “uplift” in biodiversity – meaning that after the development is complete there needs to be 10 per cent more biodiversity (trees/shrubs/grassland etc) than before the development took place.
The application says that while there will be some new shared green spaces and tree improvements, the development will not be able to provide the full 10 per cent uplift.
It suggests that to offset this, the developer would provide funding to increase biodiversity at an “environment bank” in Rochdale.
A decision on the application is expected in November.