MORE than 100 homes could be built on the site of Kendal Auction Mart in an ambitious plan to raise money for the multi-million pound Gateway Project.

If planners give them the go ahead, auction mart owners L and K Group plan to plough the proceeds of the 107 house redevelopment site - which includes 53 affordable homes - into the agricultural business park they hope to build near Westmorland County Showfield.

The controversial Gateway project, which was first mooted by auction bosses and Westmorland County Agricultural Society in 2001, and involves a state-of-the-art livestock mart, training centre and retail units, is set to go before a South Lakeland District Council planning committee this spring.

If it is approved, the £18 million scheme could be completed within two years at which point work on the housing development, if it also wins favour, would get under way.

For full story and artist's impression of how the site would look, see the March 9 edition of The Westmorland Gazette.