Plan for block of 76 new flats moves forward

Plans for a block of 76 new apartments to be built in a West Yorkshire town have moved forward after the council granted outline planning permission for the scheme.

Binks Executive Homes applied for permission to construct the six-storey building on a plot of land next to Ledgard Bridge Mill at Back Station Road in Mirfield.

The developers would need a further more detailed planning application to be approved before work could start.

More than 30 letters objecting to the scheme were received by Kirklees Council, voicing concerns about the impact on residents and wildlife. However, the developers said the plans were an "excellent opportunity" for an "underused brownfield site".

The plans would see 76 two-bed rented apartments split over six levels.

The developers also planned to create 239 parking spaces and a "pocket park".

A single storey building, historically used as a martial arts club, would be demolished to make way for this part of the scheme.

The project forms the second phase of a larger plan, referred to as the Ledgard Bridge regeneration scheme.

The first phase saw the original four-storey mill building converted into 125 apartments more than a decade ago, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, some residents have objected to the project, with one saying the scheme would create "a massive headache for people living here".

Another wrote that the proposals would "take most of a small car park up as it is" and that they feared the works would "put muck and debris all over this small entrance to our homes as well as the car park for near on 12 months if not more".

A statement from the applicant said the site provided "excellent public transport links".

They added that the project was "an excellent opportunity for an accessible and high density development on what is an underused brownfield site, and also a significant windfall opportunity in the context of the council's five year housing supply absence".

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