Escape room plan for Brontë village rejected

Plans for an escape room attraction on a picturesque street near the world-famous Brontë Parsonage in Haworth have been rejected.

The application included converting the upper floors of two Grade II listed cottages into an eight-room venue above a cheese shop but planners said the works would result in "substantial unjustified harm" to the building.

Haworth is famous for being the home of the Brontë sisters and is especially popular at the moment due to the recently-released blockbuster adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie.

Bradford Council conservation officers said the plans would leave the historic building "gutted".

An escape room is an interactive game that involves solving clues and completing tasks to "escape" a themed, locked room in a specified amount of time.

Players compete in groups and the concept is inspired by various TV shows of the same nature such as the Crystal Maze and Knightmare.

The site, on 13-15 Main Street, also sits within the Haworth Conservation Area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The works, proposed by Hayley Smith, would have involved the "removal of an unstable chimney stack" and the replacement of the stone slate roof covering.

There would also have been a three-storey rear extension and excavation of the rear garden, according to the application.

However, the local authority questioned a claim in the application that the building was in a "poor condition" with a "severely compromised" roof.

Conservation officer Jon Ackroyd added: "Extensive alterations are proposed to the building which would result in substantial unjustified harm."

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