Detailed designs for the £30 million regeneration of Shrewsbury’s historic Flax Mill could take almost a year to be produced, officials involved in the scheme said today.

A selection process is currently taking place to choose a design team to take forward the project in two sections – one covering the historic buildings and another for new builds such as offices and homes.

Nick Taylor, assistant director of economy and strategy at Shropshire County Council, said the scheme had been hit hard by problems in the economy but was still on track.

Work will also soon begin on preparing grant applications which are hoped could rake in millions of pounds from lottery and heritage groups.

The Ditherington Mill, which was the first iron-framed building in the world and is seen as the architectural precursor to modern skyscrapers, had already fallen derelict when its current owner English Heritage took it on in 2005.

Councillor Alan Mosley said it would be seven or eight months until new plans are drawn up.He said: “At the moment there is a procurement exercise under way to appoint a team that will undertake detailed design work on the project in two parts.

“The proposals are that the designs for the old buildings be developed as would be appropriate for a planning application, whereas the rest of the project, the new build such as homes and offices, would be developed to an outline level.

“It’s probably going to take eight or nine months.”

Mr Taylor said the partners involved in the project, which include English Heritage, developer Urban Splash and Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, had been looking at ways to bridge the conservation gap within the development.

Nathan Cornish, managing director of Urban Splash Midlands, said the firm had already been in discussion with a number of commercial firms concerning occupation of the completed development.