MOVES to create an official town centre in Bordon have taken a positive step after proposals were put forward to combine the Forest Centre, Chalet Hill and the High Street to create a new designated shopping area.

The proposals are due to go before East Hampshire District CouncilÕs development policy panel today (Friday). If agreed, they will be included for consultation as part of the second review of the local plan - the development blue print in the district.

Previously the Forest Shopping Centre came under the umbrella of Òa second-tier district centreÓ with Chalet Hill and the High Street being on equal status as areas such as Liss and Clanfield in being classed as a small local centre.

But planning officers have now put forward plans to alter this which will mean that Bordon, like Alton and Petersfield, will have a designated town centre.

The report to the panel says: ÒIt is acknowledged that the facilities in Whitehill/Bordon, particularly with respect to retail, commercial, leisure and entertainment uses, are lacking in comparison with the larger centres of Alton and Petersfield.

ÒThe retail facilities in Whitehill are split between the two centres as the Forest Centre and Chalet Hill/High Street.

ÒIt is considered that Whitehill has special circumstances which would make it appropriate to consider combining the two centres within one extended area and that this should be designated a town centre in order to allow for and encourage the provision of much-needed facilities.Ó

Under the plans put forward to the panel, planning policies which discourage commercial competition between BordonÕs shops will be scrapped.

Bordon and Whitehill will also be treated as a special case by planners in a bid to redress the imbalance of population and facilties.

The report says: ÒIn Whitehill/Bordon town centre, because of the requirement to provide much-needed additional retail, entertainment and cultural facilities, preference will be given to the provision of these facilities.Ó

The new town centre boundary would run along the High Street from Chalet Hill to just past the entrance of Whitehill Chase.

The boundary would then go around and exclude the small housing estate off Woodpecker Road and then down Conde Way, around the Chase Hospital and up to the Forest Road junction.

It would then run along Forest Road, go around the Forest Shopping Centre, and up Heathcote Road before continuing along Forest Road and finally go up Chalet Hill.

However, moves by the town council to add a sentence into planning policy which designates the rest of the Phase II site next to the Forest Shopping Centre, which was not developed as part of the Lidl development, have not been successful.

ÒThe inclusion of the suggested sentence concerning small units is not considered appropriate as this would be unnecessarily restrictive and could hinder the implementation of much-needed additional retail development,Ó the report states.

The drive to redesignate BordonÕs shopping area was instigated largely by Whitehill Town CouncilÕs development advisory group with the backing of all three of the townÕs district councillors.

District councillor Zoya Faddy was pleased with the new proposals.

ÒIf we have a designated town centre then this will put us on equal footing with Alton and Petersfield, which is most important,Ó she said.

ÒBefore we had a local centre but, with such an expanding population, we need growing facilities.Ó

Mrs Faddy said that, if you include the population figures for Lindford, BordonÕs population figures are expected to be confirmed as being larger then both Alton and Petersfield in the latest census.

ÒI know that Lindford wants to be a separate entity and I respect that, but to all intents and purposes the people in Lindford are in walking distance of Bordon and are reliant on BordonÕs facilities - its shops, the schools - LindfordÕs children go to Mill Chase and the libraryÓ she said.

The district councillor also said that even though the heart of Bordon will be designated a town centre, it does not necessarily mean that shops will suddenly spring up.

ÒThis does not mean that houses will be knocked down and shops built.

ÒAll this means is that we will have a healthy mixture of the facilities that we need - houses, shops, businesses and leisure.Ó

If, as expected, the policy panel accepts the new town centre designation, the proposals will be approved by both the councilÕs cabinet and full council before being circulated for public consultation later this year.