A FOUR-day workshop is set to be held to design how part of the Manydown project will look.

Young people in Basingstoke and Deane are being offered the opportunity to contribute ideas on how Manydown should be developed, in particular to help shape the Manydown garden community.

The workshop will include sessions on designing new places and creating communities.

Young people taking part will be able to choose a topic, carry out research and develop their own ideas on how to make the new Manydown development, west of Basingstoke, a great place to live.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council, as joint leasehold owners of the Manydown site, are set to work alongside the UK’s leading master developer Urban&Civic in a partnership to deliver the Manydown development and embracing garden town principles.

The workshop will be held in Basingstoke from Monday, 20 August to Thursday, 23 August and is open to anybody aged between 13 and 21 interested in subjects such as architecture, urban planning, geography, sociology and psychology.

Cabinet member leading on the Manydown project for the borough council, Cllr John Izett, said: “This is a real opportunity for creative young people in the borough to play their part in shaping the future community at Manydown and this workshop will be particularly interesting for those wishing to pursue careers in areas like urban planning and design as well as those who may make their homes eventually at Manydown.

“The new Manydown garden community aims to be one of the UK’s best-designed developments. Residents have already contributed many ideas through the many stages of consultation and I look forward to hearing the views of our young people on what we can do to make it an even better place.”

An outline planning application has been submitted for up to 3,520 new homes, plus businesses, community facilities, schools and a new 250-acre country park, on the northern part of Manydown.

In addition to public consultation, groups of young people from local schools have already been involved in planning for the future of Manydown, with regular engagement sessions running since January 2016.

Leader of the county council, Cllr Roy Perry, added: “The development of Manydown is an exciting opportunity for shaping an environment to meet the aspirations of future generations.

“What better way to embrace that opportunity, than to involve the aspiring urban designers, architects, and sociologists of the future? I’m very pleased we are able to offer young people this unique opportunity to be part of such a large-scale project, and perhaps learn more about careers that interest them.”

For more information about the Manydown site, visit: manydownbasingstoke.co.uk.