Ten years after they were First suggested, plans for the full Beaulieu Park project at Springfield go on display today (Friday) for comments from local people.

Developers Countryside Properties Plc say that they will be creating a sustainable community with up to 5,000 jobs and a new railway station.

Four hundred homes allowed under the current borough plan are already being built.

After the public exhibition, an early planning application for the next phase is expected to go to the planning committee.

Countryside says its aim is to create a new community that will make a valuable contribution to the future social and economic development of Chelmsford.

The company says that the railway station is at the heart of the new proposals. Great Eastern and Anglia Railways ''have been heavily involved in the discussions."

A First GER spokesman said on Monday: "We are very enthusiastic for a parkway type station, but the main decision lies with Railtrack, the track authority."

Also proposed is a new local relief road to take traffic off White Hart Lane.

The lane will then become a local access road, bus and cycle route only, coupled with traffic speed reduction and more pedestrian facilities.

The business park plans could bring 5,000 jobs, says the company.

Four in 10 Chelmsford residents commute out to work at the moment. "Beaulieu Park would provide diverse, high value job opportunities in their own community," claim the developers.

The aim is to have a flagship company at the heart of the business park, possibly a Uk headquarters for an international company.

Extensive areas of parkland and access to improved recreational facilities is also offered.

The high point of this would be a sporting centre of excellence which would include Chelms-ford City football and, possibly, a relocated floodlit Essex County Cricket Club, able to entertain 15,000 spectators at internationals.

A spokesman for Chelmsford Borough Council said:''No application has been received for any addition to Beaulieu Park."

The exhibition is being held at Bishops' School, Beardsley Drive, Springfield, from 5pm-9pm today (Friday) and 9am to 6pm on Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.