A DIY giant could be coming to Alton - if district planners give its proposals the thumbs up. Homebase - which has stores in Basingstoke, Farnham and Winchester - wants to set up home on the Hampshire Commercials site in Mill Lane. It is proposed to erect the 2,800 square metres store together with an external garden centre covering 790 sqm and a further 780 sqm industrial unit on the 1.19 hectare site. 130 car parking spaces would also be provided. The plans comes after an application on a neighbouring site for a 3,251.6 sqm Focus DIY store with a further 500 sqm of ancillary offices was rejected by East Hampshire District Council in August last year. Although recognising that there was a need for such a facility in the town, the district council felt that the plans would result in an unacceptable loss of an existing employment site for retail use, loss of trees and the application had made no provision for off-site works or alternative transport proposals. The application is now the subject of an appeal - being heard this week as The Herald went to press. Last week, Alton Town Council's planning and transportation committee debated the proposals. Acting chairman Dave Crocker recognised that there was a lot of public support for such a facility in the town. "There is a commercial issue here that we have got to address. We have said that we would like a DIY store near the town centre but it is not practical at the moment when we have not got room for it," he said. Mr Crocker said that the new store would create substantially more jobs for residents, than Hampshire Commercials currently does. Deputy town clerk Greg Burt advised members that the site was not totally dissimilar to that which Focus wanted to build its store on, a proposal which the town council strongly opposed. "I think members need to consider whether anything has changed or have things been said by local people which suggest that the committee needs to change its mind," he said. Mr Burt added: "Unfortunately, the district council failed to allocate any land in the Local Plan for this type of development." Mr Crocker told the meeting: "I think we have got to be bold here, we can't suddenly in 12 months change our feelings. "It would be a welcome addition to the retail opportunities in the town, encouraging people to use our town, but it should be closer to the town centre." The council agreed to object to the application because of the perceived effect on the local road network and environment. It will now be up to East Hampshire District Council to determine the plans. In a letter to the application's agent, which has been seen by The Herald, Martin Turner, head of acquisitions - property - for the Argos Retail Group which includes Homebase, said: "We have looked, within Alton, for other sites which might be suitable and available to accommodate our requirement for a Homebase store, but have been unable to identify any, within the town, including in the town centre. "We are aware of the application relating to the former BOCM Pauls Mill Site in Mill Lane which, we understand, if approved is intended to be occupied by Focus. "Our analysis is that there is insufficient locally-generated demand and potential expenditure to support more than one large DIY retail warehouse in Alton. On this basis I can confirm that if the Focus proposal goes ahead we would not wish to trade alongside in addition to that store. "Homebase have considered the disaggregation issue and whether it would be possible to break down their retail offer so that they could trade from smaller units within the town centre. "The significant part of the Homebase offer is the sale of bulky goods, which requires large display areas, and the convenience of on-site car parking. It is not economically viable to break down the Homebase offer so that it could be sold in smaller outlets." l Anyone wishing to comment on the application should write to the district council at Penns Place, quoting application number F.25305/025/OUT/KO.
