FEARS have been raised about the impact of a scheme designed to help the regeneration of a market town.

Private developer Amicon (Europe) wants to demolish a former drill hall in Bridge Street, Bedale, and replace it with a ground-floor shop and nine two-bedroom flats on three floors above, but councillors are expected to defer a decision today.

The scheme is being seen as an important first element in a master plan drawn up four years ago, under the Renaissance Market Towns initiative, to improve the area on a main entrance to the town.

However, the development control committee of Hambleton District Council will be told by planning officers today that a site visit should be made ahead of any decision because so many issues need to be addressed.

The town council is urging the committee to reject the scheme, in the Bedale conservation area, because members claim the fourstorey development would be out of character with its surroundings and there is no provision for parking.

The drill hall was built for the Army early in the last century and later became a garage before retail uses were introduced. A spokesman for Amicon said: "Traditional materials, detailing and features have been incorporated into the new build form intended to echo a prominent town centre building."

Planning officer John Howe confirmed that the application area included no parking to serve the development but Amicon wanted to take an unspecified number of spaces from the nearby car park owned by the council.

Five letters of objection have been received, raising concerns about loss of parking spaces, the type of flats proposed and existing traffic problems in Bridge Street.

Mr Howe said: "This is a significant scheme in view of its scale, design and visual impact on an important site in the conservation area. Development of this site is potentially an important first element in the Renaissance Market Towns project to improve the environment and economic vitality of the Bridge Street area.

"An early inspection of the site and surrounding area would be beneficial in ensuring a full and transparent determination of the scheme."

Amicon has not ruled out further redevelopment up to the White Bear pub, at the top of Bridge Street, where changes in brewery ownership are understood to have prevented improvements to derelict outbuildings.

The drill hall site formed part of an original vision by Bedale and Villages Community Plan Forum to mount a feasibility study, funded by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, into redeveloping part of Bridge Street with shops, offices and houses.

The funding has been redirected into attempts to improve the market place by bringing empty properties above shops back into use.