LONG awaited proposals for former Horlicks site in Ilminster have finally been unveiled.

The site at Hort Bridge in Station Road has bec-ome derelict over the years since Horlicks Farms and Dairies closed its cheese production factory there in 2001.

Residents and councillors have dubbed it an eyesore, even more so considering its location on one of the main roads into Ilminster, but there are hopes that developers Alchemy Properties could get the go-ahead to transform the area after submitting a planning application to South Somerset District Council.

They have applied for permission to demolish the factory and replace it with a mixed use of employment buildings, as well as new vehicle access roads and extensive landscaping.

This could not only see the site given a much needed make-over, but could also lead to inc-reased job opportunities and attract fresh businesses into the town.

The former cheese factory on the southern side of the site has already been pulled down, and agents Alder King Planning Consultants are hoping the proposals will win planners’ backing.

A previous application for industrial buildings and residential development on the site was withdrawn in 2005, but the new scheme has withdrawn the housing aspect of the proposals.

A number of meetings have already been held between the developers and the planning authorities to thrash out a suitable scheme.

South Somerset District Council’s Area West committee chairman, Cllr Kim Turner, herself an Ilminster councillor, has welcomed the news.

“I’m pleased a planning application has at last come forward for this site,” she said.

The plans have shown the majority of proposed buildings on the southern side of Station Road would be single-storey, while those to the north would be on two floors.

A developers’ spokesman said: “The detailed design of the proposals has yet to be carried out, but we’d propose a ‘green border’ along Station Road to reduce the impact of the development from the road on the route into Ilminster.”

“The outstanding issues that caused the previous application to be refused have been fully resolved, and the current proposal now complies with local and national planning policy.

“It’s considered that the proposed development would have significant benefits for Ilminster.”