Published December 10, 2015 at 20:35
Rossendale Borough Council is currently considering options for Waterside Mill, the derelict building on Burnley Road, Bacup.
We are working with support from Valley Heritage and Regenerate Pennine Lancashire on the future of the Mill, and we are going out to consultation which will propose to move the Mill into the Conservation area. The benefit of this would be that it would open up the possibility of funding streams to see if the Mill can be restored.
Council Leader Alyson Barnes said;
“The Council is committed to maintaining and preserving the Valley’s rich variety of heritage assets. We are forging links within the community and nationally to ensure the heritage of the Borough is celebrated and protected. This consultation will be a very important process for the preservation of the heritage Mill.”
Conservation forms an important part of the Council’s statutory planning functions, contributes to the resolution of buildings at risk, the designation and management of conservation areas and the formulation of planning policies.
The consultation runs for an extended 7 week consultation (to allow for the Christmas period) from Thursday 10th December 2015 to Thursday 28th January 2016.
There will also be a consultation event at the Council’s Futures Park offices on Thursday 7th January 2016 6pm to 8pm.
Please note, this consultation is just about the inclusion of Waterside Mill in the conservation area, not about other amendment proposals that were proposed in the 2011 appraisal, these will be considered again in due course.
We will soon be adopting a Conservation Strategy, which is a means of assessing work that must be achieved in the Borough to address buildings at risk, which include heritage assets. However, we have no power to list or “designate” buildings. This is the duty of Historic England.
Rossendale has 13 listed industrial structures and approximately 277 listed buildings in total.
More details on the consultation for the conservation area are also available on our website.
If you would like to make presentations or give comments on this proposals please contact Bethan Frost, Conservation Officer on 01706 23864 or email bethanfrost@rossendalebc.ov.uk