RESIDENTS in Southampton will today (Weds, June 3) get their first glimpse at £100m plans to rejuvenate a crumbling Southampton estate.

Fresh plans for Townhill Park will be unveiled ahead of a planning application for more than 600 homes going in later this year.

But while Labour civic chiefs say it is a sign of "great progress" their Conservative opponents have again criticised them for taking so long to getting round to handing in plans.

The proposals to regenerate Townhill Park first surfaced under the Tories in 2011 and were taken on by Labour after their election victory in 2012.

There had been calls from the Tories for Labour housing chief Warwick Payne to resign over his handling of the plans, while the council admitted there had been some delays.

Residents can have a look for themselves at two consultation events at the Cutbush Children's Centre in Cutbush Lane, from 6-8.30pm tonight and 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday (June 6).

There will be an application submitted for full planning permission for the first stage of the work which would provide 276 properties in the south eastern end of the estate, with outline applications submitted for the second and third phases.

If planning permission is granted later this year buildings on the site may be demolished by Christmas and the site cleared by next spring.

Construction work would then begin next summer.

When the project is completed there will be 675 homes in a mixture of houses and flats, and there are proposals for some properties to have solar panels or garden roofs and a village green.

Cllr Payne told the Daily Echo: "This is a really exciting stage for the Townhill Park plan and shows that we're making great progress in bringing forward this exciting revamp.

"The Labour council has tried to remove all previous issues with the scheme to ensure as many residents as possible now feel comfortable with the plans."

He said the council had £62m in its Housing Revenue Account, largely made up of council property rent, to spend as well as £3m from the general fund for road improvements.

But he said the project may be funded in instalments, as the council looks to utilise borrowing raised through its Development Company (DevCo), a commercial property venture that could be up and running next year.

He accused the Conservatives of "politicking" in their criticism, saying there was "no funding problem" and said "When you compare it to the Silver Hill development in Winchester which has been mooted in various guises for 20 years but there's nothing on the ground, from it being first mentioned in 2011 it could be as little as five years."

Conservative opposition leader Jeremy Moulton said: "It's nice talking about things but what we want to know is can this actually be built in a sensible timescale?

"If the Development Company can only bring in small amounts of funding then it could be years and years."

And party deputy leader Dan Fitzhenry added: "It's taken them three years to get to this stage and with the DevCo proposals it will take them another year to get on with it, so they will have squandered four years."