First look at £12m plans for Shrewsbury's Flax Mill

These are the first images of new plans for a £12 million regeneration of Shrewsbury's historic Flax Mill.

A new website has been launched to support an £11.7 million bid for money from the Heritage Lottery Fund to fund an overhaul of the grade I listed site in Ditherington.

Artists' impressions of what the site could look like if the money is granted have been drawn up by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios on behalf of bid partners Shropshire Council, English Heritage and the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings.

• See more pictures in our gallery to your right

The pictures, at www.dithering-tonhlf.info, include images of how the main mill, as well as the dye and stove house, could be transformed into new commercial and office space.

Geoff Rich, partner and studio leader at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, said the company had been involved with the Flax Mill regeneration project for the past eight years and was hopeful that the most recent bid for funding would be successful.

"The aim of the HLF project is to work with the local community and others to develop a vibrant centre for learning, working, social enterprise, and leisure," he said.

"It's vital to make the heritage of the site accessible to local, national and international audiences so that they might explore, learn and get involved in its unique and diverse histories."

Mr Rich said a successful bid would allow the first phase of the regeneration project to begin and provide a boost to the local economy.

"A successful Heritage Lottery Bid will restore this group of internationally important buildings and will revitalise the local and regional economies. It will also allow a huge range of groups, from international engineers to local schoolchildren, to increase their knowledge and understanding of the unique and varied heritage of the Flax Mill," he said.

"By bringing this extraordinary site back to life, a successful HLF bid will provide public access to the important historic buildings, including the oldest cast-iron framed building in the world."

The plans were given the go-ahead in November 2010, transforming the historic building into homes, offices and shops.

Plans for the redevelopment have been in the pipeline for years, but the project has faced uncertainty because of the tough economic climate. In May, those behind the scheme were dealt a blow after an initial bid for funding from the HLF was rejected.

About £17 million is required to regenerate the building and its surrounding area, providing employment, housing, social and leisure opportunities to many in the town.

Shropshire Council, English Heritage and the Homes and Communities Agency are working together on the project.

Existing buildings would be upgraded and brought back into use for commercial, educational, office or leisure use, and new homes and other buildings would be built on the land where the Arriva bus depot, Midland Red social club and former Salop Glass building currently stand.

See also:

• Flax Mill revamp hope to boost Shrewsbury tourism

• Sneak peak inside Shrewsbury’s Flax Mill