The model of Kingston Mill development on display in Bradford on Avon (30446)MORE than 1,000 people cast their eye over an exhibition laying out proposals for a major development at the heart of a west Wiltshire town.

Kingston Mill in Bradford on Avon has been dogged by years of controversy, but a new plan will be submitted to West Wiltshire District Council by developers Taylor Woodrow next month.

The latest ideas have been on show in Bradford Library, with plans for 156 flats and town houses built alongside shops, offices and public space.

Architect Edward Nash, of the Nash Partnership, said the proposals, which are the fourth in five years, need only minor adjustments before going in front of a planning committee.

"The exhibition has gone very well. The scheme is very similar to that which was the original objective but we have really been concerned with making that scheme work.

"All the meetings we have had with the Prince's Foundation and the community stakeholders since last July have been very enjoyable and interesting, and we have really worked towards something."

Mr Nash said they had listened to community fears about traffic and worked hard on addressing the congestion problem, with spaces set-aside for a potential car-sharing club.

Gerald Milward-Oliver, chairman of Bradford on Avon and District Community Development Trust, said the public could be positive about the plans.

"The consultation has been working and there is a spirit of co-operation between Taylor Woodrow and the public to make it work," he said.

"But there is still the devil in the detail and we still need to see what they come through with on the traffic side and environmental issues."

Some of your views on the development

Howard Clark, 68, of Fitzmaurice Close, said: "I think compared to the last one it's much improved. The layout is much better.

"But we are still concerned about the traffic. They can only make Bradford one-way to make this work."

Margaret Eedle, 78, of Fitzmaurice Place, said: "Anything is going to look better than it does at the moment.

"They have made a most terrible botch on Frome Road and we want to prevent anything like that happening here."

Michael Ross, 66, of Corsham, said: "This would not attract me.

"It would put me off. It's just a glorified housing scheme.

"I just worry about the density. I would like to see some more open space. I do recognise that the density has to be there to make the scheme financially viable.

"But where are friends going to park? It's not worth saying somewhere else in town because there is nowhere else in town."

Godfrey Marks, of the Open Forum of Traffic and Transport, said: "Quite a few people feel if you are going to do a development as huge as this and claim it has access to the station, library, doctors surgery, etc, then there should be a footbridge, but they're saying they are not going to provide it.

"We are also extremely disappointed that there is not the possibility of access from the other end of the site to reduce the impact on the town."

Mixed use plan for old building

THE development of Kingston Mill will see the derelict factory divided up into housing, shopping and public space.

An area known as the vaults, a former storage space for rubber, has been set aside for a community facility, with a museum and a theatre among the proposals put forward.

The Lamb building will form part of a 3,000sq ft convenience store, while six new shops will be based in the ground floor of the New Mills building next to the Lamb.

The first floor of the building will be turned into a 28-bedroom hotel, which will extend eastwards in to a new building, replacing the former weaving shed.

A ground floor riverside restaurant and wine bar will be located at the rear and side of the Lamb.

Living space will consist of 120 one and two bedroom apartments and 36 three and four bedroom houses.

Kingston Square will be flanked by commercial office suites on the ground floor, with residential apartments above.

While Taylor Woodrow will not provide a bridge to the other side of the town, the bank will be raised and foundations put in place to ensure a future footbridge crossing will link Kingston Square with the library.

From woollen mill to rubber factory...

THE derelict Kingston Mill factory came to prominence after businessman Stephen Moulton decided to turn the disused woollen mill into a rubber factory in the late 1840s.

After his death in 1880 industrial work continued at the mill and in 1956 it became part of the Avon Rubber company.

After production stopped in 1993, the land was eventually sold to Taylor Woodrow in September 1998.

Since the late 1990s there have been three proposals put forward by developers, but all were withdrawn before being submitted to West Wiltshire District Council, following disputes over the lack of a commercial and public space on the six-acre site.

In 2003 Nash Partnership took over as architects and have been working closely with community stakeholders and the Prince's Foundation, which has been chairing the process.

A fourth application should be lodged with the district council by the end of May.