PULLING out all the stops, the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company put on an exhibition last Saturday, revealing the latest plans for the new town centre.

A total of 1,200 visitors - the biggest attendance yet for a Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company event - turned out to see the plans, including councillors and business owners.

For the first time, members of the public could experience what it would be like to walk through the new town centre, thanks to an innovative large-scale model of the future heart of Whitehill and Bordon.

The Regeneration Company is redeveloping Prince Philip Barracks, in Budds Lane, where it will provide a new town centre and homes.

With a sign saying High Street, the route took visitors past replicas of shops, restaurants and businesses, with flats and offices above and a landscaped space in the middle.

Also to make it a day to remember for the town, the company - which is an amalgamation of Taylor Wimpey and Dorchester Regeneration - laid on a classic-car show, next to the Parade Ground at the barracks, which gave enthusiasts a chance to chat to the owners about their vehicles.

The GB inline roller-hockey team also made an appearance. Later, there was a Disney-themed party at Bordon’s roller rink at the barracks, with some of the skaters dressed as cartoon characters and finishing with a flourish. For a sell-out open-air evening screening of Grease, film goers were invited to dress up.

So there were several ‘Sandys’, ‘Dannys’ and ‘Rizzos’ adding to the fun, and the film was introduced by the Phoenix Pink Ladies, who had the audience on their feet and dancing.

The developer’s exhibition - at Building Five at Prince Philip Park (the new name for the barracks) - followed an earlier one in the spring, when the draft plans were unveiled.

But now a planning application is in the pipeline, the firm can reveal specific proposals.

The new centre will include 27 shops and restaurants, with possibly one or two having tables outside for Continental-style eating; a food store; a new arts centre and theatre, and a six-screen cinema, which many the town’s younger people have been asking for.

A new town square is planned and there will be new flats; small business and office space; a covered market, and a mixed-use space for a community and heritage centre.

Public places will be landscaped, and there will be underground parking and public-transport links. Following the previous community consultation in February, the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company said it had worked hard to respond to the feedback given by residents on the town-centre proposals.

There were a number of members of the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company team at the event to answer questions about the proposals and provide context to interested residents.

A spokesman for the company said: “Alongside the exhibition, the classic-car show stood as an excellent welcome to visitors who enjoyed seeing the many cars lined up, and chatting with the car owners. The Disney-themed roller disco drew over 100 people (a record number for the event), and the open-air cinema proved to be a great success, having sold out well in advance.”

Commenting on the success of the exhibition and the day’s activities, James Child, project lead at the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company, said: “We’d like to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who made the effort to come and see the town-centre plans. The whole day was a great success and saw the community coming together to enjoy a wide range of activities.

“With more than 1,200 people attending, it was the company’s biggest event so far.”

The next consultation will take place next spring but before that it is expected the company will be able to announce the names of some of the retailers and businesses which will moving into the new town centre when it is completed.

Parish, district and county councillor Adam Carew (Cons, Whitehill Walldown) was one of the visitors to the exhibition and told the Bordon Herald: “The place was packed and there was a real buzz of excitement in the air.

“The scale of the exhibition was 1:12 and it really helped to see first hand how everything was laid out and connected.

“I was shown around by James Child and Lee Bishop, from Taylor Wimpey. Having worked on this project for more than a decade, I am really excited to see all those years of planning and consultation finally become a reality.

“The residents I spoke with were really interested.

“The question most people seemed to be asking was: ‘What shops are going in there?’ But we are not at this stage yet as it has not yet been submitted for detailed planning permission.

“People also wanted more detail about the new health campus. I know much work is going into that and councillors are having a meeting with the Clinical Commissioning Group, to see where we are with this, this week.

“It’s exciting to think we will have a brand new town centre by 2019, and I think what we have here will be uniquely different from Farnham, Alton and Petersfield.

“Residents in Whitehill and Bordon deserve the very best and everyone is clearly working hard together to ensure we get it.”