A VISION for the future development of Skipton is starting to take shape with residents' ideas being drafted into a master plan.

Suggestions put forward during the Renaissance Weekend are being pulled together into a blueprint of what the town could look like in 25 years' time.

It boasts a new "palace of culture" with a theatre for the arts and music behind the town hall and a new look High Street.

Ideas for this have included matching stall canopies, new street furniture and a new high quality surface.

The ethos for the High Street is to have it pedestrianised at certain times to create a "flexible" space.

Presenting the vision at the town hall on Wednesday, John Thompson, of John Thompson and Partners, who have facilitated the project, said the Renaissance Weekend had produced "endless discussion and debate on ways in which we can liberate the High Street from the amount of traffic it has at the moment".

He compared Skipton to the human body with the town centre as its heart. He said at the moment its lifeblood was not able to flow, adding "we see the park and ride scheme an absolutely crucial part of the healing".

Mr Thompson described how pedestrianising the High Street would improve and increase social and cultural interaction in the town. "If more space is created, more people will use that space."

He cited Copenhagen as an example, which now enjoyed a pedestrianised centre and had increased the number of people using that area by three and a half times. "It creates a community and a place where people actually want to live," he added.

He added a new look for the canal basin would establish "a major destination point for the town", providing a high quality space that will create a distinctive canalside setting.

This will provide a counterpoint to the hustle and bustle of the High Street market and give people the opportunity to sit back and relax.

A new bridge from Belmont Wharf will connect a central square to the southern bank of the canal and allow easy access to the railway station.

Park and ride schemes using the auction mart as a base have been included and will exploit the opportunities of canal boats and shuttle buses. The Keighley Road bus station will become the local transport hub.

Mr Thompson said that car parks were the town's "renaissance asset". He said that if all the car parks in Skipton were put together the acreage would be larger than the town's whole historic area.

Ideas for the town hall car park, Coach Street car park and Cavendish Street car park include mixed-use developments, with residential, leisure and parking facilities.

The Renaissance Weekend which saw the High Street transformed by a farmers' market with video wheel and street entertainment, was a chance for everyone to have their say on what they liked and disliked about Skipton.

On a positive note they liked the atmosphere of a small market town, the market and individual shops, the historic architecture, the canal and canal basin and the town's outdoor events.

The main priorities for change seemed to centre on better transport systems, art and leisure facilities, opportunities for young people, improving attitudes and behaviour, retail, the environment, housing and tourism.

There was strong support for pedestrianising the High Street at certain times, building a multi-storey car park, park and ride schemes, residents' parking and removing HGVs from the centre.

To improve retail facilities residents supported having a regular farmers' market and moving the market closer to the centre of the High Street to make room for caf seating on the setts.

They also suggested a Marks and Spencer's on the same site as Focus, and putting ashtrays on the walls of every shop.

Residents wanted to see action taken to remove litter and dog mess from the town centre and to plant up the roundabouts. They also supported plans to re-vamp the town hall, upgrade Aireville Park and create a sculpture park.

There was strong opinion for providing facilities and activities for young people including re-opening Embsay quarry for mountain biking, quad bikes and a skate park.

Commenting on the feedback, Coun Paul English said: "The main feedback is that some people loved it and some people hated it! But one thing it did was get people talking about the same things."

No public order offences were reported to the police on Saturday night and a police spokesman said that it could have been down to the increased visible security necessary for the event.

A meeting of the Skipton Renaissance Forum is being held on August 13 at 7pm in the town hall. Mr Thompson stressed that the meeting was open to anyone with an interest in the future of the town.