A DISUSED depot site described as an “eyesore” could be used for housing after district councillors backed its sale.

Members of North Herts District Council’s Letchworth GC area committee supported plans to sell land in Icknield Way, Letchworth GC, which has been vacant for years.

Letchworth GC councillors are keen to see the two-and-a-half acre site – formerly used by council maintenance staff – sold to a housing developer, although commercial or business use has not been ruled out.

A consultation process about what will happen to the land, largely owned by Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation but on a long-term lease to the district council, is ongoing but if the proposal gets the go-ahead it could be put up for sale in early 2013.

Speaking at last Wednesday’s meeting, Cllr Ian Mantle said: “This has been dragging on for too long. It’s an eyesore and the sooner it can be dealt with the better.”

Cllr Julian Cunningham, who was speaking at the area committee for the first time since winning a Letchworth South East ward by-election, echoed Cllr Mantle’s comments, claiming it had been in disuse “for as long as I can remember”.

Regarding the possibility of it being used for housing, he added: “It would be another erosion of the garden city concept of separate areas for working and housing but there’s nothing new about that.”