PLANS for the regeneration of the retail facilities within the town took a positive, if not a definitive, step forward last week.

East Hampshire District Council threw its weight behind a development brief drawn up for the High Street and Chalet Hill area at last week's north east area community committee.

The brief would allow a mixed use of shops, improved car parking, and transport links, as well as some extensive landscaping to transform the area into an attractive retail hub.

"It is accepted that the High Street and Chalet Hill area needs improvement. This is not a mechanism that brings hard development, it just brings the framework, but it will hopefully also act as a catalyst to improvement," explained Steve Proctor, EHDC's senior policy planner.

"It has taken 23 years to get to this stage and I am thoroughly delighted with the development brief, which I am pleased will be adopted," said Don Mayes, Whitehill's representative at EHDC.

His sentiments were echoed by Tony Corbin, the town project leader who helped to draw up the plans, although he also believed more could be done.

He said: "I am pleased to finally see the brief formally adopted. However, I understand some of the concerns, which have been expressed by local businesses and entrepreneurs, are that the guidelines don't fully encourage smaller-scale local investment. Clearly there is an issue of parking that is still to be resolved."

Ian Dowdle, a member of the Business Breakthrough Forum, which has striven for action to be taken to improve the area, was concerned by some aspects of the guidelines.

He added: "In the framework, there is a suggestion of recessing the shopfronts on the High Street from the Frisby building downwards. They will be recessed within the shops themselves to provide a partially covered walkway to increase the size of the pavement for pedestrian safety.

"I believe this would not be practical because many of the shops are small and don't have enough room to reduce their floor space by 4 ft. I would also question whether it would economically viable for the smaller shops to continue with that loss of retail space.

"We have asked for a transport study to be carried out to see whether the A325 could be moved over. If you travel on the road, between the north and southbound lanes particularly between the traffic lights and the Frisby building, there is a series of white lines in the middle of the road. Obviously, there is some spare carriageway there, so it could be feasible to move those two lanes closer together, or, if necessary, move the road over slightly," explained Mr Dowdle.

The guidelines indicate that the Frisby building should be retained because it is an older building in the town and a well-known landmark, but Mr Dowdle felt that if the other shops were recessed, it would completely destroy the look of the building.

Like Mr Corbin, Mr Dowdle was concerned with the obligations which would be put on any smaller developer who might consider investing in the town.

He said: "According to the brief, the comprehensive plan for the Chalet Hill and High Street area should be the responsibility of the developer. But because we have highlighted that there is no major developer on the horizon, there will possibly be more than one smaller developer.

"Zoya Faddy and Helen Walters emphasised this, Ferris Cowper said that it would be taken into cabinet and EHDC would take a co- ordinating role for development in that area. I believe that this was the correct action to take because it is a planning responsibility.".

He added: "I am unhappy with the car parking, and this has been an ongoing issue. I think EHDC needs to be more committed to providing an adequate public car park.

"It has been mooted that land near to Linton Road could house the car park, but many nearby residents have raised concerns about it. If the car park were to be placed there, the residents would want to be screened from it, but I am not convinced that it is the right area for the car park.

"It is too far out of the way and shoppers could potentially pass two car parks before reaching the one for the shops. Unless it is closed off at night, you are opening it up to joy riders and boy racers."

Mr Dowdle said that if the nearby villages were included, a retail development on the High Street and Chalet Hill would service almost 20,000 with Bordon and Whitehill area acting as a hub.

He continued: "I was pleased that they passed the document. The sooner the document is out there, the sooner it can encourage development and I thank the council for its support.

"The major obstacle is car parking and no planning application is going to be passed until this is resolved. Even as an interim measure, if EHDC retains its current car park with some improvements, that would allow development to occur until it is decided where it would be best to site the car park."

District councillor Adam Carew, believed that adopting the brief was a step in the right direction and was pleased that amendments had been made to accept his request that more environmentally friendly developments should be built. He also asked that ecology survey be carried out for local wildlife.

He added: "It is essential to get a vision for the area and ensure that the right thing is put there. We are not going to know what the MoD's plans are until the end of 2006, so we can't just sit around waiting. We need action now."