This iconic landmark, once the hub of the Kagan empire, has too long been left to rack and ruin, with just a tiny amount of space on the lower deck occupied by business.

Now news emerges of bold new plans to restore this towering monument to the textile era where once thousands of employees produced Gannex coats made famous by the late Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

Clayton Homes are no strangers to Elland.

They have bankrolled two huge mill conversions already in Park Road and opposite the Gannex factory in Dewsbury Road.

Now, providing it gets the nod from Calderdale Council, the company wants to spend around £35 million turning Gannex Mills into a state-of-the art office development that would accommodate as many as 500 people.

The benefits for the town are incalculable in terms of its future prosperity.

It is ideally placed for big business, just a short hop from the M62.

And thanks to the money this company has already spent and the existing housing market, it is not short of first-class accommodation either.

Of course these plans raise questions that the company will no doubt broach when they meet to seek approval for the plans.

Elland is in dire need of its own railway station. It would surely be folly to try to push ahead without any guarantees on this.

In the past, Clayton Homes has offered to pay for the construction of a multi-million pound station.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

Suffice to say in these times of economic belt-tightening, such brave and progressive ideas should be whole-heartedly supported, for the good of everybody.