WHITEHILL Town Council has supported plans to transform a former sergeants’ mess, in Bordon, into a business and enterprise centre.

It is estimated that more than 200 jobs could be created if Broxhead House, at Louisburg Barracks, is turned into office space for businesses.

The plan has been put together by the Homes and Communities Agency and funded by the M3 Local Enterprise Partnership - two major partners in the regeneration of the town.

Whitehill Town Council, which acts as a consultatory body when considering planning applications, submitted no objection to the scheme at its meeting last Monday, August 17.

Generating jobs is a resounding promise from the Whitehill and Bordon Regeneration Team, which is aiming for 5,500 new positions as part of the town’s redevelopment.

This figure has remained constant, despite the drop in new homes being built.

Town councillors, therefore, expressed support for the Broxhead scheme, as a demonstration that employment issues were being implemented at an early stage on the Louisburg site.

If approved, the development will be funded by a £4million grant from Enterprise M3 Local Enter-prise Partnership - a public-private partnership set up to support and sustain local economic growth.

Some additional funding will come from the Homes and Communities Agency and East Hampshire District Council.

Chris Quintana, enterprise and innovation project manager at Enterprise M3 LEP, described the redevelopment of Broxhead House as “a crucial project”.

He said it would “achieve the aspiration for creating not only confidence in the local economy, but also to act as a catalyst for further economic growth in Whitehill and Bordon”.