WHITEHILL and Bordon remains a candidate for a share of the £1.2 million South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) Small Rural Towns Fund allocated to Hampshire between 2004 and 2011. This follows confirmation received by the town partnership group that their stage one presentation last month in Winchester to the Hampshire Market Towns Partnership and SEEDA County representatives has been given the green light to proceed to stage two. Town partnership chairman and town councillor Dr. Bill Wain was delighted with the news: "This gives us the confidence to invest in the detailed level work with our partners ready for a final submission which we expect to make in November. "There has been a lot of hard work to get us this far and we are particularly grateful for the support and specialist advice we have received from many quarters, especially from East Hampshire District Council's Economic Development Office and from our Hampshire County Council funded town project officer" If ultimately successful, the bid could see in excess of half a million pounds awarded to the town. The aptly-named Breakthrough for Whitehill and Bordon bid document" includes proposals for much called for town centre and Forest Centre area improvements, a stepping up in the levels of locally delivered advice and training for new and existing micro- businesses and job creation initiatives. The money will also help accelerate the introduction of a planned internet-based community business directory and a new promotional town guide. Supporting the efforts of the town partnership group is Hampshire County Council's town project officer, Tony Corbin who said: "The SEEDA fund operates on what is called a 'matched funding basis'. "Put simply for SEEDA to grant say £100,000, we have to demonstrate that we have at least that amount committed from other public or private sector investors. While we have received very encouraging indications, currently we only have a relatively small amount of investment formally confirmed. The rest is dependent on ratification or approval by executive committees or boards over the coming weeks. Although the town partnership group is right to be optimistic, there is still a long way to go!" The town partnership's preliminary bid had already additionally received the support of Whitehill Town Council and East Hampshire District Council, as well as endorsement from partners like Business Link Wessex, First Enterprise, the local Business Breakthrough Forum and the Federation of Small Businesses. Adam Carew, the leader of the Business Breakthrough Forum and a recently elected county councillor, added: "It's fantastic news that the preliminary Whitehill and Bordon bid has been successful and that we have made it through the first stage. "However, I guess this will be a little bit like being a candidate city for the Olympics. Our final bid has to be truly outstanding if we are to follow London's success with a similar good news story for the town later this year."
