Cellars Clough Mill, Marsden
Application to demolish, and develop 55 houses on a site in rural Huddersfield:
This mill found its way into the local press last year through a fantastic redevelopment that would have seen the building incorporated into an innovative mixed use scheme albeit with the sad loss of the chimney. Sadly this developer withdrew:
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/developer-who-said-marsden-residents-6776181
The new scheme includes plans for 55 dwellings and 143 spaces for vehicles, all of which will have to journey into Huddersfield or Manchester each day to keep the intended residents in employment.
The location is not sustainable by the councils own reckoning and my own predilection for saving heritage assets notwithstanding, there is surely a huge risk of flooding on what is effectively an island on a waterway at the foot of the Pennines (and it really does rain up on those hills).
The planning consultant argues the development will bring much needed ‘diversity’ to the area. What a sacred cow that word is. Diversity is actually the exact opposite of throngs of white flighters looking for rural detached housing.
It is another anachronistic building in an awkward location. But it is also our heritage, and believe me Kirklees, if you hang on, something amazing will happen with this building.
The Demolition Register 