CAMPAIGNERS who have called for the regeneration of a former port have given a cautious backing to plans put forward by England football star Rio Ferdinand.

The former Manchester United captain, who jointly runs the Legacy Foundation with current West Ham player Mark Noble and retired Bobby Zamora, hopes to build hundreds of homes on disused land off Haven Road, Colchester.

The scheme would also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities while up to 35 per cent of the new homes would be made allocated as social housing.

Initial plans are due to go before senior Colchester councillors next week.

Richard Bailey, chair of community land trust Hythe Forward, said: "Broadly speaking we welcome investment into the Hythe to boost job creation and provide affordable family homes whilst enhancing the unique character of the area.

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"However, we need to see the right kind of development and quality is key.

"The sites that the Legacy Foundation is interested in represent some of the few remaining opportunities to create something special for future generations - to make the Hythe a destination rather than a backwater.

"As things stand we have real concerns about the density of housing, the balance of commercial to residential use, quality of publicly accessible space and the strain on transport infrastructure.

"We recently mentioned some of these same issues when objecting to the local plan section relating to the Hythe."

He added: "In our view we are now at a crossroads and call upon Colchester Borough Council to reopen the dialogue that we established with them and the Homes and Communities Agency when the Coldock site was first put up for sale several years ago."