WHITEHILL Town Council gave its approval to Hampshire County Council’s road plans, as part of the town regeneration, but added these must not adversely affect local residents.

The county council had asked for feedback from the town council after unveiling a range of proposals designed to improve travel in the town once the new relief road opens this winter.

This so-called Whitehill and Bordon Integration Project will be implemented from next spring (2019) and is set to transform the town’s key routes.

The £27m relief road will become the A325, taking through traffic away from the centre of the town and reducing east-west severance. Then the existing A325 and neighbouring roads will be subject to a raft of changes which, broadly speaking, the town council endorsed.

But councillors did add comments to their consultation response, questioning some aspects of the project.

Town council leader Mark Davison warned members to be “very wary” about how they responded to the county’s questionnaire as it “is written in a way to get the answer they (the county council) want”, he said.

But making the town “safe and more attractive to walk and cycle around” got a thumbs up, as did giving pedestrians and cyclists greater priority over traffic in key areas such as the Arrival Square and Budds Lane in, and near, the new town centre.

The county council suggested a continuous path along one side of the current A325 and Budds Lane and, while the town council was keen on a shared-use route, it added the caveat that “cyclists and pedestrians must be separated” in the interest of safety.

The town council also supported a “slower speed environment” in Budds Lane and park-and-stride sites for schools.

The section of the current A325 from its junction with Budds Lane up to Chalet Hill will form the new Arrival Square into the new town centre. The town council supported giving pedestrians more priority over vehicles at crossing points in the square, but only at certain times.

Councillors also backed wide, shared-use paths and the conversion of the Budds Lane-A325 junction into a mini roundabout to slow traffic and reduce the dominance of north-south vehicle movements. But councillors were “not certain” about having a roundabout at the top of Chalet Hill.

They were on board with the general ethos of the county schemes, but not in any instance where these would make life harder for current residents.

In the north of the town they did not support plans to shrink the Station Road crossroads, to make it less appealing for through traffic and easier for pedestrians. They felt, as this junction was still “a vital link for those living in Pinewood ward and Lindford and Oakhanger”, it should remain as accessible as possible.

The county council said the Integration Project’s five key objectives are to: knit together the existing and new areas of town; reduce traffic levels in the town to accommodate planned growth in housing and jobs; make the town an attractive place to live; support better health and enable sustainable growth.

Initially, Budds Lane and Arrival Square will see improvements, to pave the way for the new town centre and new Mill Chase Academy building.