A HERITAGE group has objected to plans to turn the famous clock tower at York’s old Terry’s factory into 22 flats.

The Twentieth Century Society says the planning application to City of York Council ‘falls below the standard required for a Grade II listed building’, and therefore it cannot comment meaningfully on the impact.

However, it said the society did have concerns about the potential loss of interior detail and about the addition of rooftop pods, which it said would be overbearing in size, would change the building’s profile and would be constructed with ‘unsympathetic materials.’

“We are not in a position to conclude that the proposals would not substantially harm the character of the heritage asset, and as a result we wish to object at this stage,” said Tess Pinto, conservation adviser for the society, which says it is the national amenity society concerned with the protection, appreciation, and study of post-1914 architecture, townscape and design.

“We have found that the conservation statement is in places contradictory, and the drawings provided are insufficient to enable us to comment conclusively.”

The Press last week revealed that plans to use the tower for commercial or community purposes use, which would have allowed public access, had been ditched by developers Henry Boot Developments Ltd and PJ Livesey Living Space, who said they had proved unviable.

Ms Pinto said in a letter to the council that the Terry’s complex off Bishopthorpe Road was an important group of interwar commercial buildings because of its significance in the development of chocolate manufacturing.

She said the design ‘reflects the character of enlightened industrial paternalism of a major employer’, and its importance was recognised both by the listing of the original buildings on site, and by the designation of the complex as a conservation area.

She said the tower and boiler house were an important feature in the York skyline.

“The proposals may involve the demolition of some details that could be of historic interest.,” she said.

“For example, we note that the lift shaft, stairway and chimney are to be removed from the tower. We are unable to properly assess the significance of these features without photographs.”