Supporters delighted with Shrewsbury Flaxmill plans

Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings, in Ditherington, said they were thrilled new plans could be submitted to Shropshire Council to give the 1797 mill a new lease of life as early as next month.

Alan Mosley, chair of the friends group, said: "We have been delighted with the progress being made on the project under the leadership of Historic England.

"As a partner in the project we have been fully involved and support the innovative proposals being developed."

The plans, which are expected to be submitted some time next month, will be revised proposals similar to those that were initially given permission for the site. The will see the main mill turned into a retail and commercial area under the planswhile visitors should still get access to the kiln's upper floors. But the revised scheme will not include transforming the Dye House into an area for communities.

The project was awarded £19.4m in grants three years ago but delays led to problems accessing the funding, which in turn saw permission for the originally plans expire. Historic England will continue talks with the Heritage Lottery Fund to secure funding once the scheme has been submitted to Shropshire Council.

Mr Mosley said visitor centre had been a great success after opening in November last year. He said: "The stage one visitor centre, which we have up and running, has been a great success and has been really well received by local people and the many visitors from further afield. We are most definitely moving in the right direction now." The centre, which used to house an office and stables, includes a reception, interpretation displays, film and audio material, and research and learning resources.The Ansells malting operation closed in 1987 and the site stood empty before being purchased by Historic England in 2005 with a view to bringing the building back into use.

The group supporting Shrewsbury's Flaxmill has welcomed news that progress could soon be made on the historic building.

Earlier this week it was revealed that new plans could be submitted to Shropshire Council to give the 1797 mill a new lease of life.

And leaders of Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings, in Ditherington, said they were thrilled to see progress move along.

Alan Mosley, chair of the friends group, said: "We have been delighted with the progress being made on the project under the leadership of Historic England.

"As a partner in the project we have been fully involved and support the innovative proposals being developed."

The plans, which are expected to be submitted some time next month, will be revised proposals similar to those that were initially given permission for the site. The will see the main mill turned into retail and commercial area under the plans while visitors could still get access to the kiln's upper floors.

But the revised scheme will not include transforming the Dye House into an area for communities.

The project was awarded £19.4m in grant three years ago but because of delays there have been problems accessing funding, which led to permission for the originally plans expiring more than a year ago.

Historic England will continue talks with the Heritage Lottery Fund to secure funding once the scheme has been submitted to Shropshire Council.

Mr Mosley said that while the plans were being worked on, the completed visitor centre has been a great success after opening in November last year.

He said: "The stage one visitor centre, which we have up and running, has been a great success and has been really well received by local people and the many visitors from further afield.

"We are most definitely moving in the right direction now."

The centre, formerly an office and stables at the site, includes a reception, interpretation displays, film and audio material, research and learning resources.

The Ansells malting operation closed in 1987 and the site stood empty before being purchased by Historic England in 2005 with a view to bringing the building back into use.