Early demolition of an eyesore in the heart of North Cheam is “on the table” while revised redevelopment plans could be in by the end of this year.

That is what Victoria House owner Home Group told councillors, and residents sat in the public gallery, at a Sutton Council meeting (April 1).

After two recent petitions gained more than 2,600 signatures, both the housing provider and the council have come under renewed pressure to take quicker action.

Campaigners want to see the council flex its legal powers and obtain a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to take over Victoria House from its owners.

For now, however, talks of that have cooled on the understanding Home Group delivers on their plans as councillors and residents pressed for answers.

READ: Knock down Victoria House by early next year, demand campaigners

Tom Hichisson, senior development manager at Home Group, said: “We're still determined to bring forward a solution for the site. Obviously our last one obviously didn't end up in the most positive light, shall we say.

“We still believe that the best way to improve the appearance of the site is to bring it forward for redevelopment, and we remain committed to doing so.

“We absolutely recognise it's in everyone's interests to redevelop this site as soon as possible. We have spent a significant amount of money on the site, we are still committed to delivering a new application on the site and developing that ourselves and we want to get to a position where we have a lot more support all-round for what we're proposing on the site.”

READ: Petitions urging council to take over Victoria House to go to committee

Mr Hichisson has made “very early” enquiries into application processes for an early demolition of Victoria House, an option which is “back on the table”.

In addition, a pre-application is roughly between six and eight weeks away while revised plans could be in before the end of 2019.

Despite further obstacles needing to be overcome there could be an early preliminary meeting with residents in mid-to-late May.

But Home Group also warn the timeframe suggested is “subject to a lot of change and movement” as the pre-application process moves forward.

With that said a CPO was not entirely ruled out and now time will tell as to what happens next with Victoria House.