REDDITCH planners have given the thumbs up to a proposal to convert part of Millsborough House into 14 two bedroom apartments on its first and second floors with close by.
Councillors at last Wednesday’s planning meeting heard that the plan could form the first phase of a series that could see the historic building home to 45 flats in total.
Millsborough House stands opposite the Trafford retail park and was built in 1912 as a spring factory by Herbert Terry & Sons.
Nowadays it is home to a number of small businesses but David Gough for the applicant James Mace Ltd said it was increasingly difficult to let the other units and they could no longer sustain the entire building as commercial premises.
The roof was leaking and was in a poor state of repair and if given the go-ahead the plan could be the first phase of a wider conversion into more apartments.
“We see this as an ideal opportunity to to revitalise an historically important building,” he told councillors.
Members agreed: Coun Roger Bennett (Con, H Cross/Oakenshaw) said: “It will bring an old building into good use and we know that Redditch needs new houses and flats and I think it would be a good thing.”
Committee chairman Coun Andrew Fly (Lab, Lodge Park) agreed: “This would be a marvellous development for Smallwood and the town centre and it seems the right thing to do. The industrial phase of this building is past and it’s an excellent thing to do.”