A FORMER social club for workers at one of Cleckheaton’s largest wartime employers could be demolished to make way for flats.

An application has been lodged with Kirklees Council to transform the site of the private social and welfare club for retired employees of Scandinavia BBA group in Cleckheaton.

READ MORE: Meet the wartime pact factory girls who have been reunited every decade for 70 years

The single storey building off Kelloe Street was put up for sale by the Trust which oversaw it after the remaining members decided there was no longer a use for it as numbers dwindled.

In a report to planners, it states: “Over recent years the membership of the club dwindled as members passed away or moved out of the area until it was neither viable nor needed.

“The remaining members decided there was no longer a use for the club and decided to wind up the Trust by selling the property and donating the proceeds to charity.

“The building ended up becoming vacant until it was sold several years later.”

Now an application has been submitted to Council planners that would see the old building being demolished and a three storey apartment block with three apartments on each floor built in its place.

The apartments would contain two double bedrooms and a large open plan dining-kitchen and lounge area.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Plans for a block of flats on the site of the former BBA social club in CleckheatonPlans for a block of flats on the site of the former BBA social club in Cleckheaton (Image: Acumen)

A report accompanying the plans states: “The internal layout of the building has been designed to ensure that windows from habitable rooms look out onto the front (north-eastern), back (south-western) and north-western elevations, to ensure there is no impact on the privacy of neighbouring properties.

“The building is set back behind the footprint of the existing building to maximise the use of the site and to minimise the impact of the building on the dwellings facing the proposed development to the north-east of Kelloe Street.”

It adds that there would be one parking bay for each apartment and two extra visitor bays – so 11 in total.

The target for a decision is January 2023.

BBA developed from a small belting works set up in Dundee in 1879, initially producing solid woven belting for power transmission and mechanical conveying in industries such as mining.

BBA opened its new base in Cleckheaton in 1901, and in 1911 it became known as Scandinavia Belting Limited.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The former BBA group social club buiding on Kelloe Street in CleckheatonThe former BBA group social club buiding on Kelloe Street in Cleckheaton (Image: Google Maps)

During the First World War, production switched to khaki and brace webbing and puttee tape.

Eventually manufacturing developed to include a wide range of industrial products and automotive products, including transmission linings for Ford’s Model T car.

By the early 1980s the BBA Group was the world's largest supplier of original equipment brake pads to the automotive industry.

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