THE deadline for nominations for a vacant seat on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is fast approaching.

Candidates wishing to represent the Kempshott ward are being urged to get their application forms sent to the borough council offices ahead of the deadline today.

The election will be held on Thursday, 1 March to determine who will join the council and represent the ward along with Conservative councillors Anne Court and Hayley Eachus.

For anyone who is interested in representing the people of Kempshott, they can pick up forms of nomination from the Civic Offices, in London Road, from the returning officer who will, at the request of an elector for any electoral area, prepare a nomination paper for signature.

All nomination papers must be delivered to the returning officer by 4pm today.

Once the nominees have been named, residents will have the opportunity to vote on March 1 at their polling station or via proxy.

The Kempshott ward seat became vacant following the death of long-serving councillor Rita Burgess in December last year at the age of 74.

Having served on the borough council for more than 30 years, Cllr Burgess also represented the borough as mayor between 2002 and 2003, as well as serving as a Hampshire county councillor.

Whoever the incoming ward councillor is has big shoes to fill with Cllr Burgess also being a member of the high IQ society MENSA, while she was also keen on adventurous sports, including abseiling, white water rafting and parascending.

At the time of her death, the leader of the borough council, Cllr Clive Sanders said: “On the surface a quiet and gentle person who was scrupulously fair, that appearance masked a piercing intellect and an unwillingness to suffer fools gladly that made her an outstanding chair of licensing.

“A pillar of the council for so many years, she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.”

The chosen candidate will join the borough council as part of their selected political party to add to the make-up of the authority which currently stands at 32 Conservative councillors, 20 Labour councillors, six Liberal Democrat councillors and one independent councillor.

For more information on nominations, the by-election and the electoral process, go to basingstoke.gov.uk/kempshott-by-election.