Plans to build hundreds of homes on a waste disposal site in Mitcham are in the works.

For the past 25 years Benedict Wharf has been used for waste, but its current operators are hoping to change all that.

Suez held a consultation with members of the community over the weekend where it revealed early plans to build between 500-800 homes in tower blocks rising as high as ten storeys.

"We’re working to plan a viable and sustainable future for Benedict Wharf to safeguard our legacy in the event we’re successful in relocating," Suez's head of planning Corrina Scott-Roy said.

"We’d like to thank all those who came to our drop in workshops to share their views on the future of the site and would urge anyone who’d like to be involved in the next round of community engagement events in the new year to contact us by emailing benedictwharf.uk@suez.com."

But it won't be as simple as being granted planning permission.

The site recently received a draft allocation for housing led development in Merton’s Local Plan.

But this is subject to consultation and being able to release the site from its safeguarding as 'strategic industrial' land and for waste activities.

Without this approval first, the site would have to remain as some kind of industrial site rather than be developed into homes.

Tony Burton, secretary of civic society for Mitcham Cricket Green Community and Heritage, said: "We welcome Suez's plans to leave Benedict Wharf and replace its intrusive waste recycling facility with new housing and open space.

"It is important that the new development lives up to Suez's promise to create a legacy it can be proud of.

"Suez will need to do more than organise two drop in sessions to engage local people. It will also need to work harder to avoid creating 10 storey tower blocks, improve public access between Mitcham and Morden Hall Park and provide a fitting gateway to Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area."

The workshop over the weekend was the first of two public consultations planned at the moment, with the next one scheduled to happen in the next few months. Suez hopes to submit a planning application in early spring of 2019.