NEW plans for homes and industry on part of the QinetiQ site have been sent in to Malvern Hills District Council.

One planning application is for outline permission to build up to 300,000 square feet of commercial floorspace on the east side of the site, bordering Britten Drive and the Chase school.

The other is a detailed application for 311 homes and a 66-bed nursing home on the southern part of the site.

Access to the housing would be off St Andrew's Road and Longridge Road, with the latter access shared with the commercial development.

The plans, which have been under development for several years, come after most of the staff at QinetiQ's Malvern site have been moved into newer buildings to the north of the site.

The site is currently occupied by empty office and industrial buildings, previously part of QinetiQ and its government predecessors such as the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment.

The site is allocated for residential and employment development in the South Worcestershire Development Plan.

Submission of the applications follows a public consultation held last autumn by the developer, Square Bay.

More than 200 people braved atrocious weather to attend a public exhibition about the plans at Priory Lodge Hall in October.

According the the developer, 84 per cent of respondents supported the principle of a mixed-use development, with just six per cent opposing development altogether.