Nestlé reassurance (From York Press)

Nestlé reassurance

10:22am Saturday 12th January 2013 in Letters By Reader's letter

I WOULD like to thank Steve Aldous (December 22) and Stephen Newton (December 15) for their letters on the state of the gardens at the front of the old factory building in Haxby Road.

We take comments like this to heart and I would like to apologise for not maintaining the gardens.

Known as Cream Block and Almond Block Extension, the building and gardens are closely associated with the Rowntree legacy.

When Nestlé decided to invest in the north side of the site, we announced the building would be retained to become a focal point in future development.

The Cocoa Works continues to be marketed with outline planning permission for mix of residential and commercial development.

I would like to reassure the local community that until any sale is complete, Nestlé will take more care of the gardens and work is already under way.

In addition, we have also decided to repair the historic clocks on Haxby Road and Wigginton Road. They haven’t worked since the electricity supply to that part of the site was disconnected some years ago.

At the end of last year, to celebrate the After Eight 50th anniversary, we moved the hands to just after 8 o’clock. This prompted us to look into how the clocks could be returned to use.

Matt Stripe, Group human resources and facilities director, Nestlé UK & Ireland.