A COUNCILLOR says she is "delighted" at the withdrawal of controversial plans to build housing on a former mill site in Haworth.

A planning application to construct 12 homes on the former Ebor Mills site, part of which is in the green belt, was submitted by Skipton Properties in 2022.

The location was once the home of Airedale Springs, and 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 properties on sections of the site.

The 2022 application was seeking to build a further 12 homes on two plots of land, one to the north of the mill site and the other 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.”

There were over 30 objections to the plans. Concerns included the potential impact on the green belt, and the effect 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 the changes “have not overcome the basis for my concerns”.

Almost two years after the application was submitted, it has now been withdrawn.

Worth Valley district councillor Rebecca Poulsen says: "Myself and local residents are delighted that this planning application is not going ahead and has been withdrawn by Skipton Properties.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put forward to protect the local area and I’m glad that after months of chasing, this application has finally been withdrawn.”

Skipton Properties was contacted for a comment but had not responded at the time of writing.