St Ann's Mill

We have a new project for Aire-scape! The project is the redevelopment of the now empty St Ann's Mill complex on the river Aire at Kirkstall.

This project is being spearheaded by Councillor John Illingworth and you can read all the whole story at his website here

To summarise, the 18th century mill was bought up by the council in 1970 along with other parcels of land in the Kirkstall Valley with the intention of it becoming one large riverside park. This plan never came to fruition and the mill was continued to put to light industrial use. The council attempted simply selling it, and later undertook a feasibility study to develop it and then sell it, but neither plans would be economically viable, not least because it is sited on a flood plain. Residential/Office conversion is not the only solution.

John has another idea. Keeping the mill as a community amenity; developing the site as a training/rehabilitation centre for offenders, using them as a source of labour to improve the site. The Leeds Canoe club have expressed interest in occupying the site because the river and mill race would make an excellent course. The upper floors could be used for artist studios or small business incubators, and the site itself could have a portion turned over for allotments.

I am undertaking the design of the new scheme on a voluntary basis, and this blog will follow it's development.

Below: location plans