A MASSIVE £300million landmark scheme for a key Basingstoke site will now come before councillors this month – and they will be advised to give it the go-ahead.

The controversial proposals are for homes, offices, shops, a hotel and a new campus for Basingstoke College of Technology (BCOT) on the former Eli Lilly manufacturing site and neighbouring Victoria lot in Kingsclere Road.

Originally, it was thought it would be quite some time before the scheme came before Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s development control committee. Just last month, committee chairman Councillor Anne Court said it was “not on the horizon”.

However, at the end of last week, it emerged that the committee will now vote on the plans on July 29.

The change follows discussions between the developer – Lemon Land – and the council over a number of issues, including the money the developer would have to contribute for infrastructure improvements.

Borough council corporate director Karen Brimacombe said: “While it was not initially envisaged that a meeting would take place in July, the planning application is now ready for consideration and it would not be reasonable to withhold the determination of the application for longer than necessary.”

Details of why officers are recommending the application for approval will not be revealed until a report on the application is published on July 22.

But a statement on the borough’s website says the approval recommendation is subject to developer contributions being agreed and Hampshire County Council’s concerns about the impact on the surrounding road network being satisfied.

There are two specific changes from previous plans – the number of homes has been reduced from 499 to 489 and plans for an art gallery have been dropped.

Mrs Brimacombe added: “These changes are not significant as the key issue is the principle of the development and its environmental impacts, such as traffic, on local families.”

BCOT needs the outline planning application to be passed before it can submit a bid to the Government’s Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for the bulk of the money needed to fund its move from its current base in Worting Road.

BCOT principal Judith Armstrong said: “I’m really pleased a date has been set and I’m looking forward to hearing the outcome.”

However, opponents said the sudden announcement of a decision date has left them too little time to prepare their case against the updated scheme.

Borough Labour Councillors Paul Harvey, Laura James and George Hood, who represent the Norden ward within which the development site is located, have written to council development control manager Giorgio Framalicco, saying: “You are bouncing this decision through without due consideration of these significant changes.”

The council has received 284 letters of objection and 563 people have signed petitions opposing the scheme.

Cllr Harvey told The Gazette he is worried a lot of objectors would be on holiday when the meeting takes place.

He and the other councillors are also concerned that members of the public will not have enough time to have their say at the meeting.

He said: “They could not have picked a worse time to do this, which is disgraceful.”

If outline permission is granted, the BCOT bid is not guaranteed to be successful because the LSC ran out of money in March. The next round of funding is not expected to be available before the conclusion of a spending review, starting in 2011/12.

Ms Armstrong said the delay would not kill the project. “We would have liked it to go quicker, but we have to learn to live with that,” she said.

Lemon Land believes its plans for the site would create between 12,000 and 14,000 jobs.