EAST Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has taken a significant step toward providing new sports and leisure centres in Alton and Whitehill Bordon.

The authority has started a process to select a partner to manage and develop these facilities.

EHDC plans to replace Alton Sports Centre, provide a new centre at Whitehill Bordon, and secure future investment into the Taro Leisure Centre in Petersfield.

A partner is expected to be in place by March 2017. The precise terms of the partnership have not yet been laid out and will be the subject of negotiation and discussion as the procurement process continues.

Following the announcement at the district’s full council meeting on October 22, EHDC deputy leader Richard Millard said: “This is an exciting moment and a real stride toward better facilities in Alton and Whitehill and Bordon. There is still a long way to go but we are now on the right road with our destination in sight.”

Whitehill Town Council leader Adam Carew said: “A new six-lane swimming pool with a 40-place gym and leisure add-ons has long been the ambition of this community and Whitehill Town Council. We are thrilled at the fantastic news from EHDC that this is a step closer to becoming a reality.”

In Alton, an outline application was agreed at the end of August by EHDC’s planning committee for a replacement sports centre adjacent to the existing site on Chawton Park Road.

Illustrative only at this stage, with the design, layout and exact relationship to the Rehab building to be determined as reserve matters, the new centre would be a multi-purpose sports facility of up to 8,500 square metre gross external floor area, with parking for up to 250 vehicles, standing alongside outdoor floodlit, fenced, synthetic turf pitches.

Once the new building is up and running, the existing building would be demolished to make way for the construction of the ATP area, with parking underneath, to provide around 130 more parking spaces than at present.

Commenting at the time, Graham Hill, district ward representative for Alton Whitedown, in which the sports centre is located, said he was delighted EHDC had opted for the replacement option, as supported by Alton’s emerging neighbourhood plan, and he stressed the need for wider public and stakeholder consultation when it came to discussing the facilities that should be offered by the new centre.

He said: “This sports centre will represent a huge investment, in fact the biggest investment in Alton in many years, probably since the building of the original centre. We really need to get it right.”