A historic building in the centre of Otley is set to be transformed into apartments if a planning application is approved.
Otley Civic Centre, which was constructed in the nineteenth century, previously played host to both the Otley Museum and Otley Town Council, but it has now been empty since 2010. The Town Council was moved after Leeds City Council decided to redevelop the building and the city council decided to sell it to a developer in 2020.
The historic building is now the subject of a planning application by Otley Civic Centre Ltd, supported by C49 Architecture who want to turn the site into 35 ‘high end’ apartments. According to the application: “This proposal would serve to improve the local economy ensure the listed building is used and renovated before it goes into such disrepair that the viability of restoration is not possible.“
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They also state the council studied the building and concluded it needed £2,311,000 of refurbishment to bring it up to standards although this study is out of date and the building has deteriorated further since then.
According to the architects, they do not plan to change the exterior of the building with any extensions or modifications, so it will continue to look the same. The application said: “C49 Architecture feel they have come up with a scheme which not only benefits the building, the local community but also Otley as a whole.
“C49 Architecture sees that this application should be seen in a positive light to ensure that development and usage of listed buildings within Yorkshire for the future. Yorkshire and the market town of Otley is full of listed historic buildings and development of them with such minimal intervention should be only seen in a positive light.”
The application also says the building is currently in bad shape, with a serious amount of rot and water damage inside the building, meaning it requires a lot of work to fix or it will deteriorate further.
You can make your voice heard and comment on the application here.
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