Plans to build up to 2,000 new homes on a Metropolitan Police training centre went on public display this afternoon.

The force is selling off a large portion of The Peel Centre, in Aerodrome Road, Colindale, as it looks to find around £500million of savings by 2015.

Plans for the site, the size of 25 football pitches, include up to 2,000 homes, a primary school, a shopping centre and a public park.

Developer GVA began a public consultation into its proposals at the first of a three-day exhibition in the Hendon RAF Museum this afternoon.

Andrew Renwick, an author and photograph collator of Eagle Drive is concerned the plans offer little in the way of employment prospects and could strain the area’s transport links.

The 50-year-old said: “Within the scheme of things, transport links do need to be improved because of the quantity of housing being created.

“It is certainly a site that needs redeveloping. The accommodation blocks have been empty for some time and if no-one is going to knock them down, they will fall down, but whether it should be more housing is a moot point.

“There are more being built in the area and there is currently a lack of retail or industrial space. I would rather see some retail or light industry that will create jobs and provide services in the area.

“Because it is outline plans, I suspect what we see on the boards now won’t be what is built so it is more about agreeing with the concept than the detail.”

Current proposals include opening up a large existing park, the size of six Wembley football pitches, for public use.

The Metropolitan Police has trained officers at the site, named after former Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, since the 1930s but currently uses less than 40 per cent of the buildings there.

The force will retain about a quarter of the plot for educating new officers with the rest being sold to private developers.

Other features to be retained include a statue of Sir Robert Peel and a memorial garden for officers who have lost their lives on duty.

Richard Seaton, a building surveyor at the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “These plans are hugely important for the force – we have to save a huge amount of money.

“I think it is fantastically exciting – it is the biggest building project the Met has been involved in. It will be a massive change but hugely rewarding.”