Demolition threat to Atkins factory

A LANDMARK Hinckley hosiery factory, once the hub of production for Atkins Bros, has been earmarked for demolition. Developer Morris Homes wants to knock down the feature four-storey Victorian building on Lower Bond Street and replace it with lower-level properties, retaining only the two distinctive red-brick archways on the facade of the former factory. The plan is to build a complex of 84 flats, houses and work units on the site and on land behind it, designed around the listed Great Meeting Unitarian Chapel in Baines Lane. Documents submitted in support of two applications - one to demolish the building and the other for the planned new development - suggest that converting the existing building would not be viable. The council’s newly-adopted town-centre masterplan, however, lists the “retention and reuse” of the factory, which is believed to date from around 1875, as one of its main aims for the site. It is understood that council planning officers are recommending the refusal of both applications, which are due to be discussed by councillors at a meeting at Argents Mead on Tuesday January 10. A design statement by architects and urban designers Tetlow King states: “The Atkins Bros factory is an important part of Hinckley’s economic history and its townscape. “The factory is large by any standards and outstandingly large for Hinckley. It is by far the largest and most imposing building in the Druid Quarter.” It goes on to describe the factory’s frontage as “monolithic” and says that, while it could be retained and converted, it could equally be replaced by another feature building. The proposed new Lower Bond Street facade would incorporate two towers, over the retained archways, which the developers suggest would become focal points. A conservation and heritage report by Plann.it, of Notting-ham says that, if the building had been worth preserving it would have been listed. Local historian Michael Roberts is opposing the plans. He said: “The hosiery industry was the industry in Hinckley for centuries and Atkins Bros is reputed to be the oldest hosiery company in the world. “The Atkins brothers did a lot of good for the town and I feel we should retain the factory as a memorial to them. “Besides that, it is an impressive building. Many generations have grown up with it and it’s difficult to imagine anything else being there.”