A DEVELOPER has offered to transform a vacant site on the outskirts of the city into an Olympic-sized ice rink and leisure complex, the Chronicle can exclusively reveal.

The facility, which would replace the disused Bar End Depot, would also include a budget hotel, restaurants, and a convenience store, alongside a four-lane curling pad, ten-pin bowling and a space for climbing.

It is understood the major project would be privately funded, and the unnamed developer has already thrown their hat in the ring as one of the potential suitors for the site - joining 50 other expressions of interest.

The bid is being supported by Winchester Ice Sports Association (WISA) and former BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Robin Cousins, who has been trying to bring the facility - which would be a centre of excellence for skating - to the city for the last five to six years.

Members of the group were invited to tour the depot before the initial proposals were formerly registered with the council in September.

However, any prospect of a deal now looks to be on a knife edge after the developer confirmed it is yet to hear back from the council as to whether it is being considered for the next phases of public consultation.

Edna Boden, one of the founding members at WISA, said: "I'm extremely disappointed that leisure wasn't mentioned by the council as a potential use for the old depot site in its notice about the upcoming consultation.

"It seems to me that the council has already whittled down the 50 or so applicants that have expressed an interest and obviously, leisure just wasn't one of them.

READ MORE: Bar End Depot: Fresh consultation to be held on future of vacant site

"Our fear has always been that the decision will have already been made before it reached the public. I wanted the people of Winchester to know what they could potentially be missing out on. This would be a fantastic leisure facility for the whole community and there's nothing else like it on the whole of the south coast.

"I've been a resident of Winchester since 1970. There's so much that could be done in Winchester, people need things to do and places to go, and an ice rink would have provided that. But we have to face the fact that it isn't what the council want, and it hasn't been for the past few years, and that's that.

"This would be a huge opportunity missed, it would have put Winchester on the map."

However, the city council has insisted it is yet to close the door on any of the potential bidders.

A spokesperson said: "We can’t comment on individual bids at this stage as they are classed as commercially sensitive. However, all types of potential uses that have been received by the council’s agent, as expressions of interest, will be covered in the forthcoming public engagement sessions.

"This first stage of marketing was limited to expressions of interests and not formal bids. Any of the bids that are progressed in due course would be subject to consultation as part of the planning process and interested parties would be kept informed by the council’s agent."

The council is running a community drop-in event on Thursday, November 24 in the foyer of Winchester Sport & Leisure Park from 3pm to 8pm.