After developers pulled out of a £90m scheme to transform shopping in Darlington, Stuart Mackintosh and Sam Strangeways look at what the future holds for key sites in the town centre a year to the day after the scheme was approved.

JUST over 12 years ago, the opening of the £60m Cornmill Centre was hailed as a declaration of Darlington's intent to become a major player in the battle of the region's shopping destinations.

The centre was something the like of which had never been seen in the town; a flagship venue aimed not only at people living in the town, but also those who had always favoured Newcastle, Middlesbrough or York in the past.

Today, Darlington still harbours hopes of closing the gap on its big town and city rivals.

But this week's withdrawal of St Martin's Property Group from the much-vaunted Queen Street/Commercial Street development is a blow to those aspirations.

To be anchored by a major department store, it was hyped as a crucial development in the transformation of the town's economic fortunes.

Darlington Borough Council said there remained a large amount of interest from potential investors.

A spokesman said: "We will be talking to our agents over the next week or so and looking at what our options are, because clearly other developers have shown an interest in it."

This setback is by no means the first to leave residents asking searching questions.

On the edge of the town centre, land next to Bannatyne's Health Club, in Haughton Road, remains undeveloped, and may do for some time.

This week, councillors rejected two more applications -one for housing and another for general leisure use -from entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne's company to develop the land.

The site is marked for employment use and the council has so far steadfastly refused to look beyond that.

Mr Bannatyne spoke earlier this year of his frustration at setbacks for casino and hotel plans for the site, which is promoted by the local authority as being on a main route into Darlington.

Bannatyne Fitness said it had sought commercial interest in the site for more than a year without success, meaning the area could remain as it was for some time.

The key to the site's future now seems to lie in an appeal to the Government by Bannatyne Fitness against the council's refusal of a hotel and casino development.

Three years ago, land at Feethams, opposite Darlington bus station, was being lined up for one of the town's most spectacular developments -a multi-screen cinema complex.

But after months of wrangling, the scheme fell by the wayside in 2002, and there appears to be no alternative planned.

A council spokesman said: "Developers did not think it was viable in Darlington.

"We are still looking at it, but there is nothing immediate going on."

Feethams, the former Darlington Football Club ground, also faces an uncertain future, despite plans to turn it into a community sports complex being mooted.

Expansion plans for the Cornmill are under way, however. Investream Limited applied for permission to extend the centre on to the Crown Street car park in January, and work is due to start early next year.

And what of the former Dressers store in High Row?

Closed in 2001, it faced a long wait to be rejuvenated, but the Bertie clothing store has plans for the site.

The company, based in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, intended to move into the building, which offers 11,500sq ft of retail space on two floors, early this year, but has twice had to delay its plans.

Last night, Bertie owner Wayne Baister said the store would not be open before Christmas.

He said: "We are working on it being ready for Easter.

"We have been working on the unit inside, but we are having to underpin the walls.

"There has been a lot more work than we anticipated; the unit has structural problems. It has been left in a poor state of repair."

The borough council said the town centre, due to be pedestrianised, was thriving.

It has the lowest number of shop unit vacancies since 1986 -7.4 per cent are empty, compared to a national average of 10.6 per cent.

Councillor David Lyonette, the cabinet member for economic regeneration, said: "The levels of investment at Morton Palms, Haughton Road and Faverdale prove developers have a high level of confidence in Darlington.

"This year's town centre retail study confirms that it continues to perform well.

"We recognise that the town centre needs further investment if it is to continue to be competitive, and that is what we will continue to strive for."