THE Kingston Mills development in Bradford on Avon could be given the go-ahead by the new year.

The controversial project has been held up because the developer, Taywood Homes, has had to amend ongoing plans to meet Environment Agency requirements.

Emma Jones, strategic land manager for Taywood Homes, said: "We have been making amendments to the plans and we have had to move the design of the buildings back a bit to conform to the Environment Agency standards."

Now the developer is finalising details with West Wiltshire District Council planning staff before the plans go to committee which Taywood is hoping will be in early January.

The plans have been changed following much public consultation and an exhibition, showing the latest computer generated images of the development, at the town library in August.

The changes made to the plans included a height reduction on the riverside buildings.

Car parking has been screened from public areas to minimise its impact and pedestrian access throughout the development has been improved.

Miss Jones said: "We got more positive responses than we had done previously.

"I think we had a fairly equal split from people who liked what we had done and people who didn't. People seemed to appreciate the exhibition that we held in the library because I'm not sure people really understood what we were trying to do before."

The proposals for the former Avon Rubber building attracted mass criticism from residents and business people alike when they were first introduced, but Taywood Homes believes it has tried to listen to the people of Bradford on Avon and developed a question and answer booklet for the last exhibition.

Some of the questions that have been addressed by the developers explain why the design included flat roofs and why the original designs were so domesticated despite the site's industrial heritage.

According to Taywood, the flat roof design was used because many of the existing buildings on the site were already flat roofed, including Grist Mill, which the company plans to refurbish.

Previous designs by the developers were criticised for being too domestic and were changed to a more industrial design of two and three bedroom flats and townhouses.

As well as reassessing the designs, the company has also addressed the problem of poor air quality which is currently an important issue in the town.

According to Taywood, the development will not create an unacceptable level of traffic and the developer has discussed ways to reduce the impact on the environment with the district council.