Cinema is part of new town plan

Plans for Whitehill and Bordon’s new town centre are taking shape, with residents invited to have their say on what it should contain.The Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration Company this week outlined some of the features expected, including an eight-screen cinema, modern health facilities, a hotel, restaurants and a new leisure centre.More detailed plans, being developed for the new town centre at the former Prince Philip Barracks, will be revealed at a public consultation on February 25.Attendees will be able to ask questions and give feedback to representatives involved in the development, and a model and virtual reality imagery will give a “sense of how the new town centre will look and feel”.The Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration Company, based at the Whitehill and Bordon Enterprise Park in Budds Lane, is a joint venture between developers Taylor Wimpey and Dorchester Regeneration. It submitted an outline planning application for the new town centre in 2015.East Hampshire District Council voted unanimously in favour of the largest planning application it has ever considered. The application will transform Whitehill and Bordon, creating 2,400 new homes, jobs, infrastructure and the new town centre.The Regeneration Company is focusing its efforts on a 494-acre (200-hectare) area, covering Prince Philip Barracks, the Technical Training Area, Martinique House, the Bordon and Oakhanger Sports Club and the Hogmoor Inclosure.The site will be regenerated with new shops, offices, restaurants, an anchor food store, a leisure centre and new secondary school.Full planning consent has been given to the Regeneration Company to convert the 133-acre Hogmoor Inclosure (54 hectares) from Army training land into a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), open to the public with footpaths and cycle routes.Outline planning permission gives developers the go-ahead in broad terms, meaning specific elements of their plans, such as materials and specific layouts, are ironed out later.The new town centre will be located at the corner of Budds Lane and the A325.By the time the town centre is built, the A325 will be subject to a number of improvements which will slow down traffic and reduce the number of vehicles passing through the town.The idea is to create a “shared space”, reducing east-west severance. This will be made possible by the £27million relief road, which is on track to be finished by the summer of next year, taking through traffic away from the new town centre.The town centre is also set to host a health campus – a collection medical facilities including GP surgeries and clinics.