NEW images of a major housing development planned for Basingstoke have been released, showing how the 3,520-home estate could look.

Work has finally begun on the 2,000-acre Manydown site, with archaeological digs taking place to look for finds of national importance ahead of building the new homes next year.

The site was bought by the council in 1996 to be developed.

Last month, cabinet member for finance and major projects, Cllr John Izett, admitted it had “taken too long” for building work to begin at Manydown.

His comment came after Cllr Gavin James highlighted a timescale published in a document from 2015 stating that building work would begin in 2017/18, with 1,490 homes built by 2022.

Now, 25 years after the site was bought, work has begun on the land to bring much-needed new homes to the town, with the first set to be ready to move into by 2023.

The £1.2 billion project is being carried out by developers Ubran&Civic and global charitable foundation The Wellcome Trust, which formed a partnership with landowners Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.

Survey work has now started to prepare the land for the infrastructure works next year.

Manydown is set to bring 3,520 new homes to Basingstoke, along with two primary schools.

Land has been reserved for a potential new secondary school, local centres, businesses, shops, and community facilities including a 250-acre park.

The images released by the developers show a vision for what the housing estate could look like.

One of the artist’s impressions shows the gateway to Manydown at Winklebury, with the first of three neighbourhood parks and early green spaces for both existing and new communities.

The open space will continue along the length of Roman Road to join the communities of Manydown and Winklebury.

The second image shows a school walk crossing, providing a safe, green route for residents to walk, cycle, or scoot to school, to encourage those living at Manydown to leave their cars at home.

However, those behind the project said the houses in the images are not an indication of what the new homes will look like, as this is yet to be decided.