WHITEHILL Town Council this week saw the draft outline bid from the Town Action Plan, which could lead to Bordon receiving a six figure sum to regenerate the town centre.

Town project officer Tony Corbin presented the document to the council at Monday's meeting to get its view of the bid. The funds would be provided by SEEDA's (South East England Development Association) rural towns programme which has earmarked £1.2 million to market rural towns in Hampshire. Nineteen towns in the county have applied, or are in the process of applying, for similar funding.

The money would be used to provide micro- businesses with extra training, support and advice, while grants for new businesses would be provided to encourage job creation in the town.

It would also be used to enhance the current Forest Centre Integra Project, which is focused on revamping the centre and the surrounding area. It would mean that the centre would become more attractive to both established and potential customers, it would also be safer and more pedestrian friendly. One of the project ideas is to create a focal point so local events, such as gigs and fairs, could be staged around the centre.

The extra funding would also see encouraging improvements for pedestrians and cyclists alike with an improved route which would be created between the Forest Centre and Chalet Hill.

If successful, the bid will be matched by Hampshire County Council and although there are no guarantees, members of the Town Action Plan are hopeful.

"We will find out in July if we will be invited to submit a final bid for the funding, but we wouldn't be putting so much effort into the initial bid if we did not think that there would be a good chance of success," Mr Corbin said.

"We are lucky as we have gained a lot of input from many local businesses, the town council and the Job Centre. We have also gained tremendous help from groups such as the Business Breakthrough Forum, Business Link Wessex and First enterprise who have had experience with similar projects."

Council members thanked members of the action plan for all their hard work to produce the document. A copy will be submitted to SEEDA in June for a decision.