Radcliffes bought a site of two acres, currently occupied by a derelict 30,000 sq ft, six storey mill. The intention was to demolish the mill and build 24 new houses, in a selection of townhouses, apartments and detached residences.

We had already developed 7 houses on the land adjoining the mill, and so had established the principle of residential development.

The existing mill was located at the back of the footpath, and was 5 storeys high at the roadside. The plans proposed 3 storey townhouses set back 6 metres from the back of the footpath. A dialogue was opened with the local authority, who were against a three storey development along the roadside. We tried to accommodate their wishes by reducing the height of the townhouses, but could not reach agreement with the Planning Case Officer. The reason the Case Officer gave for not supporting our proposal was that our townhouses would overpower the mill cottages on the other side of the road. This, despite the fact that there was an existing, derelict 5 storey mill, which was 6 metres closer to the cottages. Local youths were congregating, and setting fire to the mill, but the Planners could not take this into context as it was our intention to demolish the mill. This appeared to us to be a nonsensical situation, and we continued to progress the application to Planning Committee, despite the Officer’s recommendation to refuse planning permission.