Briercliffe Parish Council

BRIERCLIFFE PARISH COUNCIL. Cllr Roger Barstow Frost MBE., MA., FRSA., 33, Cross Street, Briercliffe. Burnley, BB10 2HT. 14th October, 2018. Burnley Planning Office, Council Offices, Parker Lane, Burnley, Lancashire. Dear Sir or Madam, Reference: Planning Application with reference to Walshaw Mill, Talbot Street, Harle Syke, Briercliffe. I have been asked to write to you about this application. The Parish Council will not meet until tomorrow, the date when objections/observations have to be with yourselves, so we have decided to contact you with our views about the application in advance of the meeting. First, the mill was not built in 1913, as is indicated in the Report, but in 1905. The building has a number of features that might be retained and there are more recent additions to the building which are rare in mill buildings in the Burnley area. The features include the exteriors of the engine house and boiler house which might be retained on the site as is the case with the former engine house of Harle Syke Mill at New Taylor Fold on Cobden Street in Harle Syke. Buildings associated with Burnley’s former staple industry are disappearing with increasing regularly. The retention of some features of the building within the developed site would be a good thing on heritage and historical grounds. The more recent additions included a refectory/dining room for the workers at the mill. This is a rare feature of a large cotton mill in the Burnley area. Another point, I don’t think mentioned in the Report, is that the mill is adjacent to the site of Coalpit House, a property which was a small farm/croft which took its name from early coal mining activities in the area. (The Briercliffe Society has a photograph of this building). There were two/three coal mines close to the mill one of which was Haggate Colliery. Of course, when it operated, in the late eighteenth century and into the first half of the nineteenth, Harle Syke had not been developed. The mines operated to the south west and west of the mill but their workings extended to the Cop Row, on Briercliffe Road, where the underground galleries were used to supply water to the 40, or so, cottages of the Cop Row. A company, the Cop Row Water Company, was set up to administer this system which operated until water was supplied to the area by the local authority. The road at the rear of Walshaw Mill is properly known as Coal Pit Lane. It served the area that was mined and gave access to Mustyhalgh Farm. The Parish Council does NOT wish to object to the application. The land will be brownfield and is suitable for development. In addition, we have noted comments made in the Report about the application’s potential effect on school places, contamination and the siting of former coal workings but we feel that the following should be taken into account when the application is finally considered. The matters we wish to address are as follows:- 1. Transport considerations. We note the comments of the Highway authority but we feel that 52 houses on this site is too many. The site is approached by a narrow residential street, with dwelling houses on both sides, the residents of which will be inconvenienced by traffic issues. 52 houses equate to about 104 cars and could result in additional parking in Talbot Street. Access from the street to Burnley Road, in Harle Syke, is not good. A reduction in housing to 44 properties (also giving space for the retention of part of the mill as at New Taylor Fold) is suggested. 2. Heritage. It is recommended that the features of the mill, as described above, should be retained. The Parish Council is disappointed that no attempt has been made to fully respect the historic, heritage and architectural aspects of Harle Syke. Something along the lines of Annerley Fold in Worsthorne would have been appreciated. I will make myself available to discuss these matters further, if you so wish. 3. Building materials. The Parish Council favours the use of stone, or a good substitute for stone, for these buildings. The site is within the older stone-built area of Harle Syke (the best surviving weaving mill village in Lancashire) and should not be developed with red brick, or any other colour of what might be termed brick. The roofing material, and other features of the houses, should be in keeping with stone dwelling houses. Yours sincerely, Roger Barstow Frost MBE., MA., FRSA. Briercliffe Parish Council. .

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