Buyers line up for Peaky Blinders mill
BBC
A number of people are looking at buying a historic mill complex in Keighley, according to the Crown Estate.
It took responsibility for Dalton Mills after the previous owner went bankrupt and a restoration project collapsed.
The Crown Estate said it had received an “undisclosed” number of inquiries about the Grade II listed Victorian site.
The main Genappe Mill building was destroyed in an arson attack in 2022 and other parts of the complex have also been damaged by fires.
Tim Rogers is chief executive officer of not-for-profit Future Transformation which is one of those organisations hoping to acquire the site.
“Our vision for the site is to restore it and for it to be used as a place for business, different commercial lets, but also community use,” he said.
“The only way to protect its future is to make it a community asset. That’s the key for us as it’ll mean no single individual will own it.”
Mr Rogers said the security of the site was “paramount in the short-term”.
Jane Lee from the Keighley Civic Society has previously called for more security measures at the mill to prevent further trespass and arsons.
She said: “I’ve been contacted by one person who has told me that he wants to put in a bid to buy the mill to develop it as multi-use apartments and workshops.
“It’s a huge site and he said it would be a ten-to-15 year project.
“He’s got a plan and he isn’t the only one interested in buying the site and developing it.”
The BBC has established that the two title deeds for the site were “disclaimed” by the Treasury Solicitor in 2023.
Under the English and Welsh legal system, the freehold is now subject to an unusual and ancient process known as “escheat”.
The Crown Estate is an independent, commercial business whose profits go to the Treasury.
It cannot undertake any action that might be construed as an act of “management, possession or ownership”.
But if someone offers to buy the land the Crown Estate can set up new deeds and keep the money from the sale.
In 2013 a developer bought Dalton Mills after it had lain empty since the 1980s.
The owner’s plans were to turn the complex into an arts, cultural and wedding venue.
But the main building was never renovated and was instead hired out for TV filming, including as a location for Peaky Blinders.
Last week two teenagers were found guilty of carrying out an arson attack which caused £15m of damage to Genappe Mill on March 3, 2022.
McKenzie Motron, 18, from Bradford, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named, will be sentenced on 7 October 7.
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