AMBITIOUS plans for hundreds of homes at Fossetts Farm near Blues’ proposed stadium should still go ahead, a senior Southend councillor hopes.

Labour’s Ian Gilbert said councillors would do “what we reasonably can” to ensure an initial 224 properties are built near Waitrose off Eastern Avenue in Southend.

Other homes are planned.

It comes after controversial Southend United chairman Ron Martin announced he is putting the club up for sale after 25 years at the helm.

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Mr Martin, 70, retains ownership of Fossetts Farm where the club’s new stadium, training ground and housing estate are planned.  He told a press conference on Friday that he will own the new ground but is keen to offload it to whoever buys the Blues.

But his bombshell announcement has prompted questions about the fate of the homes plan. Together with the stadium, the project means about £500million of investment is pumped into Southend.

Mr Gilbert said the council’s stance is to continue pressing for homes to be built on the land.

“Whatever ends up happening at the football club, we very much would like the development to go ahead and we will do what we reasonably can to ensure it does,” he said.  Homes England is expected to boost the development with a multi-million pound loan, but this is yet to be paid.

Mr Gilbert added: “I believe the club and the other developers behind it are already looking for different investment funds.

“I don’t think Homes England support – or lack of it – will have any impact on the plans going ahead.”

The council’s Tory leader, Tony Cox, said the news of the club’s sale came as “a wee bit of a surprise” among councillors.  He added: “I think the club’s problems have been well documented.

It is not wholly a huge surprise but I think for everyone it was out of the blue on Friday. Southend is known for two things: its pier and its football club. I hope the club goes on to a sound, stable financial footing and is able to grow and prosper and get back into the Football League again where it belongs.”

Last month, Southend Council issued a statement saying revised plans for a smaller Southend United stadium have been held up as the club has not supplied enough information.

Last autumn, the club unveiled plans for a 16,226-seat stadium, reduced from the previous 21,000-seat plan.

The revised scheme also removed a hotel to allow more homes to be built on the Fossetts Farm site.

The applications for the smaller stadium and more homes are both still to be decided by Southend Council’s development control committee.

However, Mr Martin told the Echo plans have now gone in to the council but they are not yet on the council’s validated list of applications.