PLANS for nearly 600 new homes at the former Eli Lilly site have been submitted to the borough council.

Basingstoke-based Sentinel Housing Assocation, which owns the land, submitted an outline planning application on Monday to develop 578 homes at the former Eli Lilly and Liverpool Victoria sites, in Kingsclere Road.

The proposals to transform the derelict site were first unveiled last March as part of a series of community consultation events hosted by Sentinel.

The planning application for the 10-hectare site, which was purchased in September 2012 for an undisclosed fee, has incorporated suggestions made by residents during the consultation.

Plans for the site include 2.85 hectares of open space, the conversion of the iconic white building into 56 apartments, 247 houses and 275 new apartments, as well as 819 car parking spaces.

Sentinel has said that it will also look into installing a new crossing point in Kingsclere Road, an additional crossing point in Chapel Hill and improve footpaths outside the front of the site and along Chapel Hill.

Sentinel’s development and regeneration director, Mike Sheppard said: “We’ve developed this application by working together with the local community, Basingstoke and Deane councillors and officers and we’d like to thank everyone involved for their support so far.

“With the average South East house price at just under £217,000, there’s a huge demand for affordable housing and we’re determined to do all we can to help.”

He added: “Our intention is to create a vibrant new community close to the town centre with a choice of homes to suit all pockets.

“And we’re not stopping there – we’re also proposing improvements to crossing points on Kingsclere Road and to the main pedestrian route into town.”

The application is set to be decided by the borough council by September and, if approved, site preparation and detailed design work will start in the autumn.