SOUTHAMPTON city planners are expected to give the green light on Tuesday to redevelopment plans for the Dell, home of the Saints.

Plans for 228 properties - including 44 affordable homes for young families and the elderly - are due to come before the development panel and planning officers are recommending developers Barratt Homes be given the go-ahead.

The centrepiece of the development will be a three and four storey block of 148 flats and 14 town houses built around a central quadrangle. The buildings will be positioned in the same area as the stands, and the central square will roughly mimick the layout of the pitch.

Concerns raised by residents centre on the anticipated congestion at the Hill Farm Road junction. They fear there will be traffic chaos when mums and dads can no longer park at the football ground to drop off and pick up their children from Springhill School. To minimise these problems the developer has offered to contribute to the cost of improving pick-up and drop-off facilities for the school and provide a car turning area in the cul-de-sac part of Milton Road.

Scrutiny of the plans by city planners comes after months of detailed consultation with residents living around the Dell including presentations to local community groups and discussions with planning officers to get the development to this stage.

Both Saints and Barratt Homes were keen to consult over pieces of public artwork which are expected to adorn entrances to the site. Given its history as the home of Southampton Football Club, there has been speculation that road names and buildings may bear the names of soccer heroes through the years.

Civic chiefs will have the final say but fans are hopeful that Ted Bates Terrace and Le Tissier Towers could become a reality.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.