BUSINESS leaders have welcomed Peter Gadsby's proposals to redevelop land near to Pride Park Stadium which could create more than 1,500 new jobs.

Mr Gadsby announced his multi-million-pound plan yesterday, at the same time as revealing a £37m bid to buy Derby County from its American owners.

There are four main elements to his scheme.

Pride Plaza involves the building of shops, restaurants and offices on land next to Pride Park Stadium.

Chaddesden Sidings, which is owned by Network Rail, would be redeveloped for housing, offices, retail and a resited park-and-ride scheme.

Mr Gadsby wants Derby City Council to create a cycling velodrome, proposed as part of a £50m overhaul of civic leisure facilities, on the present park-and-ride site next to Pride Park Stadium.

New roads, a new bridge across the River Derwent and a one-way traffic system would also be introduced to ease current congestion problems on Pride Park.

George Cowcher, chief executive of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber, said he particularly welcomed the redevelopment of Chaddesden Sidings.

He said: "The area is a huge swathe of land which at the moment is not realising its full potential.

"Anything which can be done to not only redevelop it but also create jobs and encourage enterprise and growth has to be a good thing."

The idea for Pride Plaza was first mooted two years ago, when Mr Gadsby was chairman of the football club.

Russell Rigby, director of commercial property firm Rigby and Co, based at Pride Park, said: "From my reading of proposals, the Pride Plaza element would be welcome.

"We recently carried out a head count of how many people actually work on Pride Park, part-time and full-time, and it was 8,800. This figure does not include Derby College which has 2,000 students.

"There is clearly a need for more facilities, such as shops and restaurants.

"The improved infrastructure would also be good. Pride Park does suffer from congestion and extra roads may help relieve the pressure."

As well as the velodrome, a "sports village" element of the plans would also include athletics facilities and tennis courts.

Even Tom Glick, president and chief executive officer of Derby County, who has rebuffed Mr Gadsby's approach for the club, said he was broadly supportive of plans to use land close to the stadium for leisure.

He said: "The council's leisure plans are great for the city and to have a facility such as a velodrome in Pride Park has to be a good thing."

John Forkin, director of Marketing Derby, a public/private sector organisation set up to attract investment into the city, said: "Now Pride Park is complete it will soon be important to unlock this other land with the right type of development. It's going to be really important to get the right mix of use."

Mr Gadsby has stressed that the redevelopment plans are not reliant on him successfully buying the club and that he has already held talks with senior public officials about his proposals.