WHITEHILL Town Council is planning to introduce a pedestrianised shopping plaza, a street performance ampitheatre and e- commerce capabilities to Bordon. It hopes to deliver these ambitious projects within three years through a Town Partnership, set up two years ago and supported by local government and regional developers. Major improvements are also expected in the availability of key services in Bordon and Whitehill, as a result of the town's involvement in a Hampshire County Council Accessibility Survey. The Town Partnership - comprising six local experts on transport, recreation, environment and business affairs - has secured £600,000 funding - from town, district and county councils, as well as from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) - for three short-term projects. The flagship initiative is the integration of the Forest Shopping Centre and adjacent Forest Community Centre, through the construction of a piazza-style pedestrianised courtyard, complete with a fountain, in front of the library. This would be accompanied by the construction of an amphitheatre next to the community centre, which would host outdoor drama productions, but also double as a youth shelter. Town councillor Bill Wain, chairman of the Town Partnership, confirmed that £180,000 of SEEDA funding has already been earmarked for the project, with planning due to start next year and building work in 2008 to 2009. But Mr Wain stressed that the facelift would be phased in so that vehicle traffic could be managed properly, and emphasised that the scheme would not necessarily entail the closure of Pinehill Road. Another innovation is the partnership's other main project - the installation of e-commerce technology into Bordon's community website, http://www.gu35.info">www.gu35.info. This is intended to provide an expansive directory of businesses in the town, and give businesses and their clients the chance to make transactions online. This scheme, coupled with a third to provide further advice and training to local employers through a sub-group called the Business Breakthrough Initiative, is in line to receive £60,000 from the SEEDA grant. Derek Seale, a member of the partnership and chairman of the Forest Traders' Association, said that the raft of improvements would have a positive effect on the town. He said: "If we want to keep shoppers here, we have to provide them with an area they are happy to shop in because we're in competition with all other retailers in the region. "The Forest Centre is 24 years old and the new owners were intending to do some work on it anyway. It's possible they might contribute to the integration work. "As for the support services, half the businesses in Bordon and Whitehill are small ones and find it difficult to get the right support. "E-commerce is changing the face of retailing as more people are becoming comfortable with shopping on the internet, so it's important we keep up with what's going on." Another partnership offshoot, the Whitehill and Bordon Ecological Conservation Group, successfully applied to Whitehill Town Council for £500, to match district council funding, at a meeting on Monday. Mr Wain told councillors: "Sixty per cent of the parish is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, while a further amount is urbanised. But the rest, nobody knows about. "We want to explore the unknown areas for the good of the parish." The momentum gained by the Town Partnership could be built upon by Bordon's inclusion in Hampshire County Council's ongoing Accessibility Survey. It is one of only three towns in the county taking part in the pilot scheme, which will focus on making key services, such as medical and banking services, more easily available to residents. At the heart of the county council's survey is new software which allows coucil officers to construct a map of key services overlayed with data on the time spent and methods used by local residents to reach them. Bordon was shortlisted for the trial after it was acknowledged there was a lack of nearby facilities and transport links. The survey results will be used to look at ways of taking people closer to services, through increased community transport, or expanding service providers to be closer to residents isolated from them.
