THE days of desolation of a long-abandoned site could be coming to an end with three bidders still hopeful of transforming it.

Competing developers still have hopes of converting Upper Beeding Cement Works into a £200 million eco holiday park or a 2,200 home “mini-Venice”.

But sitting in the driving seat at the moment is the Dudman Group, which exercised its option to buy the site for £4.88 million earlier this year.

The company’s director Steve Dudman said discussions with the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) were ongoing and he was hopeful of going public on plans later this year.

A bid by the Southwick company in June to lift restrictions on the amount of housing on the site was rejected by the SDNPA planning committee.

The giant industrial site closed as a cement works in 1991 and was previously let by former owner Hargreaves to a series of businesses.

An SDNPA official said permission to extract minerals on the site ran until 2042 but the site was currently in suspension as part of an agreement with Dudman which would be formally reviewed next year.

Ed Carr is director of the South Down Project which proposes a £1.3 billion scheme to build 2,200 homes as well as office space, restaurants and shops, a South Downs National Park visitor centre, primary school, health centre and auditorium which backers claim will support 4,400 jobs.

He said work continued on developing the scheme, unveiled in April 2016, with the creation of an artistic and cultural vision for the site working with the Arts Council and the Tate.

He said: “A lot of mystery still surrounds what is and is not going to happen. At the moment there seems to be a lot of conflicting opinion and views.

“We would be happy to work with Steve [Dudman], either by purchasing the site or working with him on a joint venture. We feel we would bring regeneration, jobs and homes to the site.”

Architect Bill Dunster of ZED Factory has drawn up plans for a £200 million off-grid project which includes 600 pods for holiday lets including an outdoor amphitheatre.

Mr Dunster: “We have got a large hotel chain interested in funding our vision.

“Dudman refuse to talk to us saying we are not viable. It works very nicely, there would be no funding issue at all.

“We are looking at other sites, obviously we are not letting our ideas go, we think it’s great.

“We are looking at sites all over the South Downs National Park. We would love to do it.”

A South Downs spokeswoman said: “The current occupier of the site, Dudman Holdings, has completed the freehold purchase of the entire site.

“They have advised that they plan to come forward with their own ideas/vision for redeveloping the site. We can confirm that no planning application has been submitted to date.”