COUNCILLORS have paved a way forward for Skipton Developments by deciding between two options for the town.

Following almost three years of planning and consultation, members of a Craven District Council committee this week agreed a package of proposals, which could see a £80 million transformation of the town centre.

Members of a performance and resources committee opted for a scheme comprising:

* Coach Street - two decks of car parking providing 196 public car parking spaces and 50 residential units;

* Canal Basin - four blocks of homes and 117 public car parking spaces;

* Cavendish Street - a five-storey car park containing 570 spaces;

* Town Hall - a "one-stop shop", housing a council service centre, library and tourist information centre, small shop and caf, four retail units and three layers of parking providing 425 public car parking spaces;

* Granville Street - 181 homes with over a third of them "affordable";

* Horse Close - 162 homes with two thirds "affordable";

* Council Offices - located at an edge of town site, either within a south Skipton employment zone with scope for 1,500 park and ride spaces or on a site off Gargrave Road with 270 contract/long stay parking spaces.

The scheme could be tweaked following Tuesday's meeting but essentially this is the blueprint which will go before the next full meeting of the council at Skipton Town Hall on Tuesday February 7 at 6pm.

In conjunction with deciding a way forward, councillors have also agreed to release £64,000 for GVA Grimley to take the project further. Grimley's were appointed by the council in August 2004 to act as lead advisers.

The package the councillors have agreed - 'Variant A' - is a modified version of one the council and Grimley's drew up last year.

The scheme, along with the rejected option - 'Variant B' - both featured a reduction in car parking spaces on Coach Street, scaled down proposals for the canal basin and a smaller multi-storey car park on Cavendish Street.

The proposals affecting Cavendish Street, Coach Street and the canal basin provided the biggest talking point at this week's meeting.

Skipton councillor Mick Hill said the town did not need any new shops. "If you build any more, you will find all the shoppers will go to the more modern shops and we will be left with empty shops in the High Street," he warned.

He also backed comments made by Coun David Ireton that plans to develop the canal basin should be toned down.

Coun Chris Knowles-Fitton said there was definite support for parts of the scheme, such as the plans for the town hall and housing on Horse Close.

Skipton councillor Marcia Turner referred to the proposals for Coach Street as a "no no" while Coun Ken Hart said he had serious misgivings about putting a multi-storey on Cavendish Street."There's already a large traffic problem in Cavendish Street," he said.

Skipton councillor Andy Solloway said aspects of the plans showed a lack of vision - such as plans for multi-storey car parking - while a one-stop shop and affordable housing were examples of forward-thinking.

Coun Paul Whitaker said he knew the council needed new offices but said he was against such a massive scheme. "I feel like I have invited a salesman to come and put me a new door on and I have finished up with new windows and new glazing," he added.

Leader of the council Carl Lis said it was clear there were many different views but it was important to move forward. He stressed that none of the plans was set in stone.

If the council decides at next month's meeting to forge ahead with plans, a detailed prospectus will be published and developers will be invited to tender for the contract.

Secretary of the town's civic society, Gwynne Walters accused the council of steaming ahead with its own ideas.

"Once the contracts are signed developments of the sites will proceed with no chance of halting the juggernaut," she said. "It (Skipton) will be a building site for a decade and at the end will emerge a cloned town, radically changed from its current character."

Sebastian Fattorini, of Skipton Castle, expressed concerns about over-development of the town centre. He suggested a new "gateway" for traffic travelling into the town from the direction of the railway station.