ALDI sent me a glossy pack of information about its proposed new site across the road from its present one in our town centre.

I must admit I was impressed by it, not least because access for disabled customers would be better.

But on further reflection I think that much better use could be made of the area than a bigger and better supermarket (and also the present Aldi site would presumably be left derelict).

I suggest that the proposed area should be used to build 100 or more compact dwellings for young first-time buyers.

To keep the cost down below £100,000 and speed the project, these should be prefabricated and have a kitchen/diner, lounge, bathroom, bedroom, box room and a small outside store for bicycles etc.

The flat roofs would be south facing and fitted with photovoltaic panels so the homes would be electrically heated, no gas, hence 'green' and cheap to run.

The centrepiece of the site could be a building to act as a creche in the daytime and a meeting place in the evenings.

The homes would be sold on 12-year leases as after then the residents would have the means to move to larger houses, thus making room for new first-time buyers.

Sited in the centre there would be no provision for residents' cars. Rail and bus transport are on the doorstep as well as job opportunities and Keighley College.

The injection of several hundred young residents would transform our town centre.

The project could be achieved within a year or so. It would also provide a blueprint for similar struggling town centres in Britain.

DAVID MORTIMER

Keighley

* E-mail your letters to alistair.shand@keighleynews.co.uk.