Skipton'S Belle Vue Mill will become a centre for living, working and shopping after councillors approved plans submitted by Novo Homes at their planning meeting on Wednesday.

The development of the building on Broughton Road, known locally as Dewhurst's Mill, will see the creation of 110 residential flats and 14 townhouses, retail floorspace and business offices, as well as car parking for 302 vehicles and landscaped garden decks.

Central to the scheme will be a glazed atrium in the heart of the five-building complex.

Provision will also be made within the development for 12 affordable homes, being sold at a 50 per cent discount to local residents.

Novo Homes bought the mill from current occupiers Kingsley Cards for a reputed £3 million.

Kingsley has to vacate the site by September 2006.

Although concerns were expressed by Coun Richard Welch about the viability of an underground service area and the difficulty he felt articulated lorry drivers would have navigating their way around the space, members were vocal in their praise of the scheme.

Coun Paul English said: "This is where Skipton's industrial past embraces its future. It is an attractive enhancement and the developers have made a considerable commitment to the people of Skipton with the provision of 12 homes at discounted rate, a cost to them of some £800,000.

"I would like, however, to put forward an amendment to the proposal, which is that we negotiate a commuted sum from the developers to be used for the benefit of the community in that area," he added.

Coun English's amendment was accepted, as was a proposal by Coun Stephen Place that the apartment which will overlook 20 Belle Vue Terrace should have obscured glass to prevent a loss of privacy to the residents of the neighbouring property.

An additional amendment, put forward by Coun Marcia Turner, that the town houses to be built along the canalside should have false chimneys to match the surrounding streets, was not supported.

Coun Turner said she felt the buildings should reflect the surrounding streets, but Coun David Ireton, chairman of the planning committee, said he was not in favour of false chimneys as they tended to attract damp.

Coun John Sayer said the development was an imaginative use for an antiquated facility.

"The modern use of premises like this is partly limited from an industrial point of view. There is going to be employment generating opportunities that are welcome and also unusual in such a place like this," he added.

The applicant's architects, Wales Wales and Rawson and DLG Architects, were at the meeting to explain the ideas behind the scheme to councillors.

Nick Mortimer, from Leeds-based DLG, whose firm was behind the development of The Light in Leeds, told members the key point of the scheme was to open up the development to pedestrians and create a feeling of external space with the use of the contemporary "glass box" in the middle of the site.

Councillors recommended Coun Place's proposal to give delegated authority to the head of planning to approve the application, subject to the developers agreeing to a list of specified conditions and the two amendments discussed at the meeting.

As the mill is Grade II listed and the scheme includes demolishing the weaving sheds, a separate application for listed building permission has to be sent to the Secretary of State for Environment to see if it needs to be 'called in'.

Providing that does not happen, Craven District Council's head of planning Sian Watson will work with the developers to finalise conditions and legal agreements on both planning applications subject to consultation with councillors.

It could mean work starting on the scheme as early as October next year.