The levelled Motorola site and car park, next to the A419, between the David Lloyd Centre and Swindon Stadium could become over 150 houses.

And the applicant Homes England, a public body set up by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says the land should be used for housing instead of industrial purposes as laid out in the council's local plan.

The application says"The site’s inclusion within the employment allocation is a legacy of the previous local plan and is not representative of the current economic and spatial context.

"The council has over-allocated employment land in the adopted local plan by more than twice projected requirement set out in its evidence and therefore such an approach is not justified; the site is no longer viable as an employment site. The rental yields to achieve viable employment uses at the site are unrealistic in the context of local comparable sites."

Instead the body which funds affordable housing schemes, says the land should be used for houses, and that 30 per cent, 48 houses, should be let at an affordable rent- 80 per cent of market rent.

That's despite a feasibility study conducted by the organisation which said the site would only be feasible to private developers if 11 per cent of the houses were affordable, just over the minimum stipulation.

Homes England says: "The delivery of affordable housing should be treated as a benefit with substantial weight in the decision-making process."

Drawings submitted as part of the application show the houses could be organised in two distinct smaller estates, Robins South and Lady Lane North and aligned north - south, with a "green corridor" separating them.

The land fronting on to Salzgitter Drive to the west of the application site will also be public open space, including areas of trees and some ponds - which will help drain rainwater from the estates to prevent flooding.

The application says: "The key public open space is located on the western edge of the site, as a central amenity for the northern and southern development areas of the site as well as providing an amenity to the existing community to the west of the site.

"In addition to the main area of informal play space, it contains a playground at its centre. The space would benefit from natural surveillance from both the adjacent dwellings and movement corridors present close by."

Buildings will include two-storey houses and three-storey apartment blocks, with houses only on the boundaries of the green spaces and green corridor.

Comments should be made by Friday February 15.