A DECISION on the future of one of Ribble Valley’s oldest mills was described as ‘a good result’ by the applicant trying to transform it.

James Warburton, of Emporia Leisure Ltd, saw his aim of transforming the Holmes Mill in Clitheroe into a 31-bedroom hotel with a restaurant, bar, bakery, and a spa and gym leisure complex, take another step forward.

It was discussed at length at a Ribble Valley Council planning committee meeting on Thursday night.

More than 20 residents attended the meeting in Clitheroe and saw borough councillors go against council officers’ recommendation by approving the application in principle.

The application will be sent back to officers to negotiate conditions with Emporia on parking which officers were concerned about.

At the meeting, councillors said they did have concerns over the lack of parking spaces within the application but supported the development.

The Grade II listed site on Greenacre Street is made up of two spinning mills founded in 1823 and 1830 with one of the buildings being temporarily held by the Bowland Beer Company.

Mr Warburton said he could not wait to get the conditions ironed out so work can commence.He said: “Overall I think we got a good result on the night.

“I just want to get the conditions sorted so for whatever reason this uphill battle will be finished.

“I was really pleased to see lots of support from the residents in the public gallery and the committee councillors and ward councillors who attended to speak in praise of the application.

“The application will expand the brewery, it will bring 140 jobs to the town and I want people to be able to enjoy the new development as much as they can.It was tricky to stay silent in the meeting, but overall I thought we got a good result.”

At the meeting, councillor Mary Robinson said: “We have other developments in Clitheroe that don’t have lots of parking spaces like The Grand, but we get on fine with that.

“We also need to look at the fact each of the units in the plan would not be used at the same time, so not everyone will be on the car park at once.”

The application, which was approved in principal, will be brought back to the planning committee to approve the conditions.