A YEAR to the day after controversial government plans for an asylum centre were scrapped, residents in Lee-on-the-Solent are still no nearer to learning what will become of the 500-acre site.

However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel in the long-running saga over the future of HMS Daedalus.

The Ministry of Defence put the site on the market for the second time in July, but said it would give other government departments a chance to consider how they could best use Daedalus before it is advertised on the open market.

A question mark has remained over the site since it was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in March 1996.

Since then plans for the former airfield have included everything from a racecourse to a giant recreation ground.

Defence chiefs yesterday promised a report on the way forward is imminent.

Emma Newland is the spokesman for Defence Estates, which manages the site from its Portsmouth offices and will eventually sell it on.

She said: "Defence Estates is currently seeking views from our jointly appointed planning consultants the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to establish the most effective disposal strategy.

"This report is not due until the end of March when SEEDA, the MCA and Gosport and Fareham councils will jointly agree a way forward."

The involvement of the two government agencies looks likely to signal that the land will be used for housing and industry and as a launch pad for air sea rescue operations.

A Daedalus Strategy Group, made up of Fareham, Gosport and Hampshire councils, government officials and members of local residents' associations, has been looking into the possibilities.

Fareham and Gosport MPs Mark Hoban and Peter Viggers remain heavily involved in bringing parliamentary questions on the debate.

Councillor Arthur Mandry, who jointly chairs the Daedalus Strategy Group, said: "It is a long-term process which will include expressions of interest and public consultation. We will need a chance to absorb the reports before even meeting again as a committee. It is likely a number of proposals will come forward, but it would be foolish to try and predict the future as we don't know who is going to come forward with ideas for it."

The site is classed as a conservation area and is dotted with historic buildings - one of the reasons the government dropped its asylum centre plans because of difficulty converting them.

Feeling is mixed among the 6,500 population of the seaside community, which has a large retired population.

Many would like to see leisure and sports facilities built or the site kept as a services establishment.

The Daedalus Action Group (DAG), which organised a mass seaside rally, a 32,000-signature petition and a 7,000-strong march against asylum centre plans, are still involved in the process.

It says it remains committed to helping find a more suitable use for the site.

Chairman John Beavis added: "It's early days, but there are some concerns about the site being used for affordable housing. The road systems are overstretched as it is and more houses on there are not what is needed in my view."

Opposition group NeigbourLee, set up to support asylum seekers, says it is keeping a watching brief on the site, but has no desire for any specific use for it.

Among other ideas mooted for Daedalus are a business or science park, a privately-run airfield, a hospital or a training facility for military personnel to complement the HMS Collingwood expansion nearby.