CALLS to keep Bradford on Avon a working town are growing with concern that a new scheme for Kingston Mills could see the former Avon factory site become a dormitory village.

Members of Bradford's Community Development Trust have called for a public debate, saying up to 10 acres of existing and former employment land in the town is under pressure from housing developers.

The comments follow the trust's plan to highlight the long-term opportunities offered by Kingston Mill and other sites through an 'Inquiry By Design' process led by the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment.

This process would give community leaders and interested organisations the chance to sit round a table with developers and discuss the future of key sites. Development Trust chairman Gerald Milward-Oliver said: "Most people in the town want to see opportunities for employment, as well as community, education and retail development.

"Before Avon closed Kingston Mills in 1992 several hundred people were employed in the heart of the town. The Government is actively promoting market towns as a focus for economic development and rural-based industries. It would be ironic if Bradford on Avon turned its back on mixed use and accepted the agenda of the housebuilders as a dormitory town and retirement community."

Extensive public consultation led to West Wiltshire District Council adopting a planning brief for Kingston Mill in 1994.

The brief suggested the site should be of mixed use with residential, office, light industrial, small-scale retail, leisure, arts and tourism.

The development trust is in consultation with economic partnerships to assess the potential for Bradford becoming a focus for the IT and multimedia sector.

Developer Taylor Woodrow withdrew its third set of plans in five years in July last year, after being warned proposals for 127 new homes would be turned down.

The developer, which is working on the scheme with its house building division Bryant Homes, hired a new architect in December and residents have been promised a new set of plans by spring this year.