PLANS for a £250m housing and leisure scheme in Southampton are to be discussed next week.

The proposals to build  650 homes, two 150-room hotels, 80 serviced hotel apartments, new restaurants and offices, a cinema and a casino at the Leisure World site, off West Quay Road, will be considered by civic chiefs on March 16.

If the plans tabled by developer Sovereign Centros are approved, work could start as early as 2022 and is expected to be done in phases.

Details of each phase will have to be considered by city councillors in the future.

But the overall plan will be discussed by the Planning and Rights of Way Panel in a virtual meeting next Tuesday.

Developers previously said the scheme will bring significant investment to Southampton and will create 1,000 new jobs.

Detailed plans for Leisure World site unveiled

City leaders welcomed the plans but some residents raised concerns over a number of issues including traffic, parking spaces, pollution and over-development.

Bargate councillors, business leaders as well as a number of residents associations also said the proposals should be linked to the masterplan for the  Mayflower Quarter, the area between Mayflower Park and Southampton Central Railway Station.

Giles Semper, executive director at GO!Southampton, said: "We’ve already shared our view that this decision should be deferred until the Mayflower Quarter masterplan is completed."

But planning bosses said  “there is no ‘in principle’ planning reason to prevent an earlier partial or comprehensive redevelopment of the quarter”.

They also stressed that the scheme will be developed in phases.

Cllr Sarah Bogle added: "I have some concerns about housing so close to a working port.  This is an outline planning application, so a lot more detail will emerge with individual full planning applications as parts of the scheme come forward."

Daily Echo:

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith welcomed the news and said the scheme will create new opportunities for local people. 

But Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said it is not clear if any of the homes will be affordable. 

Leader of the opposition Cllr Dan Fitzhenry said the plans are a "good start" for the redevelopment of the Mayflower Quarter.

John Marsh, director at Sovereign Centros, said the plans would unlock “a strategic site for the city through the creation of a vibrant environment along its iconic waterfront”.

In documents published ahead of the meeting, planning bosses said: "The application presents the opportunity for significant benefits including the regeneration of an area. Furthermore, the employment generating activities, the delivery of housing and the provision of an enhanced leisure destination in the city centre is welcome."

The plans are recommended for approval.