'Iconic' Loughborough building could soon be bulldozed in 'betrayal to heritage'

An "iconic" Leicestershire building at the heart of a town’s industrial past could soon be bulldozed to make way for homes. Judris Management applied to Charnwood Borough Council in 2022 to demolish the northern section of the former Herbert Morris factory, in Empress Road, Loughborough, and replace it with affordable homes.

A decision has yet to be made about the plan, but the developer has now submitted a further application asking if consent is required to carry out the demolition anyway, with documents suggesting the canal-side building could be knocked down this month. A start date of Sunday, June 23, for demolition is quoted in planning documents, but a site notice states the work could begin at any point in June. The council, however, has given a date of Friday, July 7, for people to submit comments and objections to the scheme via its planning portal, suggesting work would not be approved in time for the developer's stated commencement date.

A last-ditch effort to save the building had been made, with Historic England informing the council in April that it was investigating whether to add it to the Listed Buildings Register, but the organisation confirmed to LeicestershireLive that it had subsequently decided not to carry out an assessment. The premises was built as a factory for Herbert Morris Ltd, a crane manufacturer that moved to Loughborough from Sheffield in 1897, which once had sales offices across the UK and in Paris and Toronto.

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The company later moved to other premises in the town, with the former factory then housing the Co-op Motors garage until 2015. A climbing company is currently based in the part of the building that is not planned for demolition.

Permission was granted to bulldoze the building in favour of 30 homes in 2016 but the work was never carried out. Judris Management now wants to create eight, three-bed homes where the factory currently stands, with a pair of two-bed houses and eight maisonettes on a site to the south of the building. No objections have been submitted to the newest application yet, but the 2022 application received several comments from locals railing against the proposed loss of the landmark.

A resident of nearby Judges Street called the Hastings area, where the building is located, "the historic quarter of Loughborough", adding: “As a resident of this area for over 30 years, I would feel very sad to see this important industrial heritage bulldozed.”

Tom Kinally, chairman of the Loughborough East (formerly Hastings) Community Association, said it was "insulting" that planning documents referred to the premises as a "storage building". “The Morris crane factory building is one of the reasons that Loughborough developed the way it did," he said. "It is an iconic building important to the history of Loughborough and to first classify it as simply a ‘storage building’ then to demolish it is a betrayal to Loughborough heritage.” Mr Kinally asked for the building to instead be repurposed to create affordable accommodation within the building or to provide a community centre.

Calling for the building to be turned into a "useable space", a resident of King George Avenue added: “Loughborough‘s physical and visual history will be destroyed if this building is to be demolished. Why anyone would want to demolish it is just disrespectful to those that worked hard there.”

A resident of Farndale Drive revealed their grandfather worked at the factory between the 1920s and the 1950s. “This factory building managed to survive a nearby Zeppelin bomb explosion during the First World War in 1916, surely we can give what's left of it a chance to survive?!” the resident said.

“It's time for Charnwood Borough Council to step up," an Atherstone Road resident said. “Other buildings have successfully been converted, I don't see why this has to be different. We care about our town and its history and it’s important to preserve it for future generations.”

A Historic England spokesperson told LeicestershireLive: “Whilst the remaining part of the Empress works does not meet the high bar for listing we recognise that it has local importance and interest as part of the history of Loughborough.”

The Loughborough Library local studies volunteer group has asked that a plaque or ‘reference board' is placed on the site to mark its importance to the town. The group has also said it would be "commendable" if street names relating to the Herbert Morris crane company were considered.

Judris Management declined to comment, but documents submitted for the 2022 application read: "The development would see an improvement to the visual appearance of Empress Road and surrounding street networks and would deliver much needed affordable housing, which is a significant benefit of the scheme. "

The council was also approached for a comment but none had been received at the time of publication.

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