THE owners of the Manydown estate are seeking to revive plans for a massive housing scheme on the edge of Basingstoke that were turned down by a planning inspector.

Representatives of The Manydown Company Ltd have requested talks with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in a bid to restart a development masterplan for the land they leased to the borough.

The trustees of the Manydown Company, which includes members of the Oliver-Bellasis family of Wootton St Lawrence, were disappointed that the council has decided not to promote the land for sale until major infrastructure, including roads and sewers, has been provided.

At a full council meeting on July 20, Conservative councillors voted in favour of suspending the project, while Labour, Liberal Democrat and Independent councillors abstained.

The Manydown Company originally sold a 999-year lease on 2,000 acres to the borough council in 1996 for £10million, in the hope that it would lead to quick development of the land.

The borough council then agreed Hampshire County Council could buy a half-share in the lease - although the county has not yet purchased it - and the two authorities began working together through the Manydown Land Joint Development Committee to promote the land to developers.

If the land is sold for development, the Manydown Company will be entitled to a 50 per cent share of the profits, while the two councils will receive 25 per cent each.

A big housing scheme was included in the borough council's Local Plan for the years after 2011, as the first phase of 8,000 houses. But a Government-appointed inspector effectively put a stop to the proposals by recommending the Local Plan should end in 2011.

The Manydown trustees now want to change their agreement with the borough council, or take back the borough's stake in the land, in an effort to get development under way.

Gerald Allison, a property adviser to the company, said: "The trustees are seeking to negotiate with the council rather than to have a legal dispute."

Councillor Harry Robinson, deputy leader of the council and chairman of the borough's own Manydown executive committee, said: "As landowners, we've agreed that the borough council's involvement in the active promotion of the Manydown land for development should be suspended for the time being. We need to look at all the issues such as sewage and traffic.

"The trust's position was made clear at the executive committee meeting where they put on record that they want the land to continue to be actively promoted for development and requested further clarification on the way forward.

"A meeting has been arranged for September to discuss the situation further with them."