“WE WANT to build communities.”

These are the words of the leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as he outlined the council’s vision for the town.

With wide reaching developments scheduled to delver more than 4,000 new homes in Manydown and the East of Basingstoke, along with redevelopment and regeneration of the Leisure Park, Basing View and Winklebury, there is a lot happening in the borough.

So leader of the borough council Clive Sanders has sought to give a holisitc view of where Basingstoke is heading and said he wants to see high public engagement, while working with partners to help deliver the more than £4 billion investment in the town due in the next 20 to 30 years.

“We estimate that the population of Basingstoke will increase to quarter of a million people by 2050, so we have to make sure we have all the moving parts in motion [now],” Cllr Sanders told The Gazette.

“We want to build places that people actually want to live and create communities within each area of the town.”

Part of this is the Horizon 2050 project which aims to get residents involved in shaping how the borough should look in 30 years.

Cllr Sanders added: “Thanks to the vision and bold long-term decisions taken in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, we have well thoughtout infrastructure and facilities.

“We now face similar choices about the future.

We want to involve as many people as possible in setting a clear vision and framework for making good decisions about what is important and right.”

With partners on the Manydown project, Basing View and Leisure Park, as well as perspective changes to the Hampshire FA sports complex, Cllr Sanders told The Gazette having a shared vision where everyone is on board will enable the delivery on the projects.

Cllr Sanders added he would also like to see a new music venue in the town along with rapid transport to connect the rural parts of the borough.