"We bought the
Vald Birn site in 2006 and it has been a long haul to get where we are now.
Banks wants to redevelop 35 acres of land, including the former
Vald Birn site, with 323 homes, a village centre, car parking and landscaped areas.
In 2002 Blyth Power Station, another major employer shut down and in 2006 the
Vald Birn foundry went out of business.
In November 2008 Banks revealed revised plans for 470 eco-friendly houses and apartments - together with a shop, GP surgery, a care home and combined heat and power plant - on the
Vald Birn site.
Station Officer Ian Wilkinson, of Northumbria Fire and Rescue Service, said: "It is too early to say if the
Vald Birn fire was also arson, but it is being treated as suspicious.
"The old power station and the
Vald Birn factory have gone now and the only way Cambois can go from here is up," he said.
Amicus shop steward Trevor Davison, 38, had worked at
Vald Birn for 19 years.
Bill Green, regional organiser for the trade union Amicus, which represents 100
Vald Birn workers, said: "Those who are skilled foundry workers will find it difficult to find work of the same skilled type, as the number of foundries in the UK has diminished rapidly.
Almost 20 firefighters spent more than two hours battling to control a blaze which was started deliberately in the disused
Vald Birn UK iron foundry in Cambois on Monday night.
The
Vald Birn UK iron foundry in Cambois, Northumberland, closed last month with the loss of 157 jobs.
Workers at the 157-job
Vald Birn UK plant in Cambois, Northumberland, completed their final shift after soaring energy costs and cheap foreign competition forced its closure.
The effect has already been cited as a prime factor behind two North-East companies ( electronics firm Circatex in South Shields and iron foundry
Vald Birn UK, at Cambois, near Ashington ( going into administration this month.