“Delight” as plans to build housing on former mill site in Haworth withdrawn

The application to build 12 homes on the former Ebor Mills site, part of which is in the Green Belt, were submitted by Skipton Properties in 2022.

The site was once the home of Airedale Springs, a business that was badly damaged by fire almost 15 years ago.

In 2020 Skipton Properties was granted planning permission to redevelop the Grade II listed site for housing – with some remaining buildings being converted to create 14 homes and 24 new homes built on sections of the site.

The 2022 application was to build a further 12 homes on two plots of land, one to the North of the mill site and one to the West.

The application said: “Alongside the new build housing, extensive work will be carried out to improve the adjacent Nature Area including forming a new pedestrian link from Ebor Lane to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Station on Station Road/Mill Hey.”

35 people, including Haworth, Cross Roads And Stanbury Parish Council, had objected to the plans. There were concerns over the impact on the Green Belt, as well as the impact of the homes on neighbouring Bridgehouse Beck.

And Bradford Council’s Conservation officer Jon Ackroyd said the homes would harm a “highly significant site” in Haworth’s history.

He added: “This industrial heritage is significant and should not be disrupted.

“The proposed dwellings would be intrusive in the setting of Ebor Mills, causing visual harm to the setting of the listed buildings.

“They would also cause harm and destruction to industrial archaeology.”

Despite tweaks to the plans by Skipton Properties since then, Mr Ackroyd said these changes “have not overcome the basis for my concerns.”

Almost two years after the application was first submitted, the plans have now been withdrawn.

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen (Worth Valley Ward) said “Myself and local residents are delighted that this planning application is not going ahead and has been withdrawn by Skipton Properties.

“It was strongly opposed locally as it would have involved developing on the green belt and down the bank of The Beck.

“The environmental impact would have been horrendous.

“There was no mitigation put forward to protect the local area and I’m glad after months of chasing this application it has finally been withdrawn.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted Skipton Properties for a comment on future of the site, but has yet to receive a response.

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