BASINGSTOKE is at a crossroads – that was the verdict from the leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council who says the local authority needs to plan ahead for the development of the borough.

In an interview with The Gazette, borough council leader Councillor Clive Sanders said the authority needs to plan ahead now for the years leading up to 2050 to ensure that the town is a still seen as a great place to live.

According to the latest resident’s survey, which saw 1,100 people quizzed during July and August last year, 96 per cent of those who took part said they were happy living in Basingstoke and Deane.

The interview also marked a critical stage for Basingstoke and Deane after councillors agreed the latest changes to the borough’s draft Local Plan which will see 12,795 houses built between now and 2029.

In addition to this, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has announced plans to build a new £150million critical treatment centre and a new £18m cancer centre in North Waltham, and the borough council is currently working with NewRiver Retail on plans to redevelop Basingstoke Leisure Park.

Cllr Sanders told The Gazette: “We are always talking about the specific things and there is a need to take the longer perspective on where we are going as a borough and what we are trying to achieve.

“In many ways, we are at a crossroads but there is an awful lot of opportunity for us. But, the problem is if we don’t start thinking within this time frame, all we are doing is concentrating on today’s issues so tomorrow and the main thrust of the way the country is developing passes us by.”

Cllr Sanders said that the population across Basingstoke and Deane had grown by 10,000 people between 2001 and 2011, and that if that number remained static, it would mean an extra 40,000 people by 2050.

He added: “We need to make sure we have got a healthy local economy because it is having a healthy local economy that brings money into the area to pay for the services and facilities we need for these people.

“But, at the same time, it also provides jobs for them and kids now in school in 10 years time will need jobs.

“But we need to grow in terms of housing.

“Those have to go side by side and decisions need to be made about what sort of communities we want to see to accommodate growth and how we are going to be able to do it.

“We can do it by selling it to developers but what you get is mile after mile of housing estates which are pretty depressing areas to live in and there is an opportunity to do an awful lot more than that which is why we are spending so much time looking at the way we develop Manydown.”

The leader of the local authority also paved the way for the potential of a university campus in the future.

The last one to be in the town was part of the University of Winchester, but the Church Street facility closed in 2011.

Cllr Sanders said: “I think there has to be a point where we have university level education in the borough.

That has to be very high on the shopping list of things we want to add.”