THIS is the multi-million pound vision for a thriving new waterside district in Southampton that would create hundreds of new jobs and homes.

City council leaders have agreed a deal with developer Inland Homes to transform the crumbling Chapel Riverside site north of the Itchen Bridge into a complex boasting marine sector businesses, homes and a new park.

And as well as providing much-needed new homes on the Itchen riverside, the development at the former Town Depot is set to provide a big boost to the local economy, with as many as 700 new jobs set to be created.

Inland Homes is also the firm behind plans for a £40m development containing 350 homes, a convenience store and a new park on the derelict site of the former Meridian television studios north of the Northam Bridge.

As previously reported, the Chapel Riverside site was most recently used as the council’s waste and recycling centre before that moved to Millbrook.

It had been earmarked as the site of a potential snowdome, but Labour civic chiefs scrapped that plan after coming to power in 2012.

They marketed the 8.9-acre site with the aim of creating a new development focused on marine and maritime sector businesses. Two developers came forward and now Inland Homes has been formally appointed to transform the run-down site.

The firm says its plans will result in 6,500sq m of new business space, and a mixture of 350 homes and flats.

The water tanks and pump house currently on the site will be incorporated into the new design, while the sea wall will be repaired and the land raised to make it less vulnerable to flooding.

And it will also create a new public park and an extension of the riverside walkway, meaning city residents and visitors alike can enjoy a stroll along the banks of the Itchen.

The council still has 18 months to run on its contract with a firm using the site as a storage site for vehicles moving through the city docks.

During that time public consultation on initial designs is set to be launched next year, with a planning application handed in the following year.

Work could then begin on site in early 2017.

Council leader Simon Letts said: “The plans for the site are very exciting.

“This is a key site for the city. It is a waterfront site and through this development agreement we are signing this will bring in additional housing, which the city desperately needs, and also making significant space for maritime industry.”

Stephen Wicks, chief executive of Inland Homes, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the city council to regenerate Chapel Riverside and we are confident that we can deliver an exemplary development that will benefit the whole community.”

Conservative opposition leader Royston Smith said: “I’m disappointed that we never got the leisure attractions, including the snowdome and other leisure facilities, at this site, but I’m pleased that the site is being progressed, as we need more homes and jobs.”

Stewart Dunn, chief executive of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is very positive news and it fits in with the Local Enterprise Partnership’s strategy of creating jobs in the Solent region that are centred on the marine industry.

It’s an obvious space for that kind of development and we welcome this news.”