Calderdale Housing Campaign

Battling Britannia
- the fight for the Furtex Mill site

After starting their development of this Luddendenfoot site with a dawn raid that felled 60 mature trees on a green site - before they had even applied for planning permission - Britannia Developments eventually received planning permission just for the brownfield site of the former mill building, and not the regenerated mill pond dam area behind, where the trees used to be. Download the Council report determining the planning application here link see attached; and view the planning application here.

Now, as they proceed to build on the approved mill building site - for which, however, we understand they still do not have a valid planning permission, not having entered into all the required legal agreements with the Council - Britannia have nonetheless also moved on to the mill pond dam site, which is also a wildlife corridor, and proceeded to level it with earthmoving equipment.

The Courier headline for 6th July was 'They're just wreckers!', and reported the anger of local residents at what Britannia are doing to their treasured valley site. Read the article here.

What are Britannia up to? Is it that (i) "in consultation with the Council, we have capped the area to remove the potential danger to the public. The mill pond is silted-up and contains contaminated materials and the pond has been a source of danger for many years with children being regularly pulled from the sludge." Or is it that (ii) despite saying that 'the vast majority of the site would remain untouched' Britannia have already try to submit a planning application for more housing on the mill pond site, and are now claiming that they are undertaking necessary investigation works before resubmitting their planning application? Which do you believe?

Local residents are determined to carry on 'battling with Britannia', and have decided on a number of actions they are asking Calderdale Council to undertake in order to try and protect this site from any further damage, and then to get it restored.

Home page

What you can do?

Launch press release

News from planning battles

The fight for the Furtex Mill site

Objectives of the Campaign

Join our discussion group

Statement by Chris McCafferty

How to respond to a housing planning application

Calderdale Council and affordable housing

Can we make new houses more sustainable?

How many new dwellings are the Council required to provide?

STOP PRESS

15th July: Council refuses huge Crow Nest, Hebden Bridge planning application

New Council housing strategy 2005-10 and affordability housing policy report