Clean-up call for eyesore factory plot
GR Bodycote factory demolished years ago
WARD councillors are calling for the clean-up of a derelict former factory site in Hinckley town centre.
The plot opposite the old Holliers Walk school has been unused since the 90s when the textile arm of parent company GR Bodycote was sold then shut down. The building was demolished some time later.
Time has seen the uncontrolled growth of weeds and the unsightly wasteground attracts swathes of discarded litter.
Now Hinckley councillors Lynda Hodgkins and Keith Nichols (both Lib Dem, De Montfort) have said enough is enough. They are urging enforcement action on the area and its rapid regeneration.
Cllr Hodgkins said: “I have checked with planning and nothing has been put forward as yet, but we are keeping an eye out. It’s considered an area for employment but it has been detrimental to the neighbourhood for such a long time, consideration has to be made for other uses.
“The site is opposite a church and housing, all the litter and waste is very unsightly for the residents, visitors to the church and those walking into town.
“I have complained about it repeatedly over the years. It does get cleaned up but it’s soon blighted by more rubbish being dumped. It is an eyesore and needs regeneration as soon as possible.”
Following intensive research by council officers the owners of the land have been tracked down and told to tidy the area. It is understood the owners are looking to redevelop the derelict plot.
GR Bodycote was a textile firm founded by Arthur Bodycote in Hinckley in 1923 which had expanded to include three factories by 1951.
In 1969 it became part of the Slater Walker group and the family knitwear manufacturing companies were spun off by Slater Walker plc, becoming Bodycote International.
By 1972 Bodycote’s group turnover was £15.4 million with a profit of £1.2 million - well above average for the textile industry at that time - prompting a series of acquisitions.
It enabled the group to become European niche market leader in textile industry sectors, offering fabric finishing, acrylic spinning, blanket weaving and producing silk, household textiles, workwear and safety products.
In 1973 all of the group’s companies were spun off by Slater Walker plc with the first moves made to redirect the focus of the business from textiles to specialised service industries in the metallurgical industry.
Within a quarter of a century the last of the textile and packaging firms were sold but Bodycote remains a thriving metallurgical coatings company headquartered in Macclesfield.