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One major benefit to Haverhill town centre of any redevelopment of the Gurteen site will be a series of new pedestrian accesses through it, councillors were told yesterday.

Haverhill Area Working Party of St Edmundsbury Borough Council received a presentation from agents for Gurteens about the way the site could be developed in the wake of demolition of some of the buildings.

The company's site in High Street is the subject of a blanket listing, which means that any demolition of even relatively modern structures has to be agreed by English Heritage.

Gurteens have a planning application, submitted in 2013, to demolish more recent buildings described as being of low or moderate importance, as part of a scheme to save the landmark buildings on the it - the iconic French Gothic main building and the ancillary original north light factory.

English Heritage initially objected because they want the future aims for the site to be defined before any demolition takes place.

So now a design principles statement is being prepared which would tie Gurteens or any future site-owner down to specific aims.

As part of the consultation process on preparing this document, the presentation to the working party was made yesterday and there will be public engagement early next year.

The French Gothic building would be retained by Gurteens for their own office use, and for rental as offices for other companies.

The more modern north light building attached to the back of it would be demolished, along with most other buildings on the south side, and the space would be developed in such a way that it respected the main building and did not limit the option for the older, historic north light factory which borders the churchyard.

A new use has to be found for this building in order to guarantee its survival because it is in need of serious repair work to the roof.

Members heard the roof is supported by numerous cast iron stanchions, which preclude its use as a large retail space and mean it would need to be subdivided.

A restaurant or café could be a part-use, while a museum area has been suggested, linked to the steam engine Caroline, which is located in that building, and the Gurteen collection of historic artefacts which currently resides in a private museum at the top of the main building.

But members heard from Mike Carpenter, for the company's agents, that the market would eventually decide what the future of that building was, and it would probably not happen very quickly.

In the meantime Gurteens wanted to get on with demolishing the other buildings. But he promised the site would not be left as an eyesore.

It would be done tidily and landscaped, with no boards around the site, because the company would still be operating from there and the last thing they wanted was to give that sort of appearance to their headquarters.

Development on the south side could be for many different uses, including retail, or residential. Two possible designs were shown to members, both of which would result in a strong massing of building along the Mill Road frontage, and some courtyard areas in between that and the main building.

These would re-inforce the character of the old buildings without being over-traditional and becoming a pastiche.

They also showed an arched access between the main building and the north light factory to give vehicle access to the rear, which is currently difficult due to the proximity of the counting house.

There would be footways in various routes across the site giving new accesses into High Street with potential for small shops along them.

Cllr Maureen Byrne asked about traffic generation and vehicle access to the site in the light of the pedestrianisation aims for High Street.

Mr Carpenter said the planning application was only for demolition so would not increase traffic. That issue would arise in any application for later redevelopment.

Cllr Byrne raise the potential of access from Cleales Yard car park through the wall along Quakers Lane.

Mr Carpenter said this looked possible. The wall was listed but parts of it looked as if they should not be. However, it involved third-party land and would only come into the reckoning once a redevelopment scheme became a reality.

Members asked about the potential for a large retailer, but Mr Carpenter said although there was a list of companies who wanted to come to Haverhill, the Gurteens site was not suitable for any large operator unless all the buildings were knocked down, which no one wanted to see.

Asked about timescale, he said he could not say whether a scheme might come forward tomorrow, or in three years time or longer.

Because of the demographic and catchment area many retailers did not have Haverhill near the top of their list of towns they wanted to come to.