Blaze-hit site is up for sale (From Keighley News)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting KNEWS to 80360, or email
Blaze-hit site is up for sale
2:00pm Monday 20th August 2012 in News
Ebor Mills pictured after the devastating fire two years ago after which it was demolished
A Haworth site is being offered for sale two years after a huge blaze ripped through a now-demolished 140-year-old mill which stood there.
Offers are being invited for the 2.82-acre Ebor Mills site on Ebor Lane, Mytholmes, which houses three Grade II-listed buildings, including offices and a boiler house.
A multi-storey mill building which was once the centrepiece of a proposed residential development and home to Airedale Springs was destroyed by fire in August 2010 in a blaze which took more than 70 firefighters to control.
In the aftermath of the fire, Airedale Springs chairman Tim Parkinson pledged to keep the business going and retain his 44 workers.
In May the family-owned business, which makes springs for customers including Bentley and Flymo, moved into a new purpose-built base at Bridgehouse Lane, Haworth, after operating from temporary premises and outsourcing work to competitors.
The sale of the Ebor Mills site, which is jointly owned by Airedale Springs and a private investor, is being handled by the Bradford office of Eddisons and Hayfield Robinson of Keighley and Bradford.
Before the blaze the process of applying for planning permission for residential development was progressing but was suspended after the fire.
Shazad Mahmood, of Eddisons, said offers for the site were being invited from developers interested in working up a new planning consent, including conversion of the three listed buildings.
He said: “In terms of marketability, we have seen a general increase in development demand in past months. Haworth is a very popular area with good end values and demand.
“The site is well located, close to a wide range of local amenities and in a popular and attractive position, and should prove attractive as a residential redevelopment opportunity.”
Airedale Springs, which has been in business since 1945, moved into Ebor Mills in 1988.
The firm has equipped its new base with more than £2 million worth of state-of-the art machinery and, according to Mr Parkinson, is focusing on rebuilding the business.
