Aire View Infant School, Silsden

Application to demolish a school in Silsden for housing:

23 town houses will replace this school building. The layout of the new houses reflects the rows of terraces surrounding the site which is a positive. However it is an outline application so this could change and the final development may be the usual group of 5-bedroom mini mansions.

The building is considered to be a non-designated heritage asset by the council. However the developer states they have explored retention and conversion and that it does not add up financially. These Victorian schools are being lost at an alarming rate, and it would be nice if some were retained and reused in a more sympathetic way.