A developer which was locked in a bitter legal battle to develop the site next to East Croydon station for more than a decade is putting its most recent plans to the council on Friday.

Stanhope Schroders hopes to start building on the Ruskin Square site by the time a new footbridge linking Cherry Orchard Road with Lansdowne Road is built in 2013.

It is putting its planning proposals before the planning committee this Thursday and will apply for planning permission later this year.

The developer, which has owned the land for more than 10 years had planning permission, but was stopped from building when the council backed a rival scheme by developer Arrowcroft, which included a 12,500-seat arena.

The authority tried to buy the land from Stanhope Schroders but was thwarted in 2008 when the Secretary of State ruled in favour of Stanhope’s development.

A spokesman said: “The application will include a new home for the Warehouse Theatre and high quality restaurants and shops to serve the community.

“It is about the same total size – 900,000sq ft grade A office space and 550 new homes – as the Stanhope Schroders scheme, which already has planning consent.

“The development has been redesigned to take account of the changing needs of potential occupiers and changed market conditions and, in particular, the new route and footbridge to East Croydon station.

“It will include a public square and new routes across and through the site and it is hoped it would help to kick-start the regeneration of the town.”

The original plans included 560 residential units, half of them affordable housing, and four office buildings surrounded by a new 200-seat Warehouse Theatre, a GP surgery and a park to be open 24 hours a day.