ONE of Yate’s most historic factories looks set for demolition after the owners confirmed ambitious new plans for the site.

The former Coopers plant, on Westerleigh Road, was to remain standing while 70 new homes were built around it but now the 70,000 square feet factory is due to be vacated and builders Terramond want to flatten it and expand the development.

Spokesman Huw Thomas told the Gazette the company had not yet decided what to build and wanted to know what the community would like to see on the 12-acre site.

"The property will become vacant and we now want to work with the community to find what is the best use for the property," he said.

"What is fairly clear is the building is not going to be suitable for commercial use any longer.

"Housing is one of the options but we could build new commercial buildings or create a mixed use site. It is far too early to say which way it is going to go at the moment."

Mr Thomas said the 70 homes, which already have planning permission, would be built this year. But he confirmed that a two-acre lake to the rear of the site would not be filled in.

Town councillor Chris Willmore branded the extended plans "horrific and huge".

She said the area had been earmarked for housing for years and there was probably little that could be done to stop any development.

"But we can do our best to try and make it as user friendly as possible, particularly with the lake and the common," she said. "It is really important we protect this."

Cllr Sue Walker said she was worried about access to the site.

She said: "There is going to be an enormous traffic flow."

The factory is due to be vacated by animal feed storage manufacturers Brice-Baker Engineering, which is moving to larger premises in Yate.

The site, which once housed a German Prisoner of War camp in World War One, was an important part of Yate’s growing manufacturing industry when Hollybrook brickworks moved in during the 1930s, followed by silos and storage manufacturer H Cooper and Sons which took over after World War Two.

Terramond is now holding workshops in the community before drawing up a masterplan for the site. Public consultation will take place later in the year.