BASINGSTOKE Leisure Park could be split into different zones as part of radical plans to redevelop the complex.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has revealed it is set to enter into a six-month exclusivity partnership with development partner NewRiver Retail in a bid to turn their aspirations for the 45-acre leisure park into a reality.

As part of its bid, the developer has proposed a concept of developing physical zones in the leisure park including entertainment, sport and adrenaline, water-based and fitness, health and speciality.

The bid also includes a market square with restaurants, while Saunders Field, a water meadow off Thornycroft Roundabout, could be preserved and turned into an ecology zone.

The redevelopment could also provide an opportunity to transform the Aquadrome swimming centre, which is increasingly needing more repair work, with higher and faster water slides.

The borough council’s decision-making Cabinet is set to approve the exclusivity agreement at a meeting next Tuesday.

If approved, it would allow the development partner to enter into detailed discussions with organisations interested in opening up facilities at the leisure park.

NewRiver Retail has also proposed, if the partnership goes forward, that they are granted a 250-year lease of the leisure park on completion of the development.

The borough council could then rake in around £400,000 a year as the freeholder of the site.

The council advertised for a development partner in June 2013. Fifty-two expressions of interest were received and they narrowed it down to two development partners, with the borough council later opting for NewRiver Retail.

NewRiver Retail has an £800million portfolio and is the third largest owner/ manager of shopping centres across the UK.

Cabinet member for property, finance and commissioning, Councillor John Izett, told The Gazette: “They are a substantial player in the shopping and leisure field.

“It has come to the point where steep change for the leisure park is required. It is going to go forward or backward. It is an exciting possibility in terms of the scale and how it ranks in comparison with other new ones such as Milton Keynes.

“I think if we can succeed in our ambitions and where it is going, it is going to be very good for Basingstoke and the borough as a whole in terms of the visitor numbers coming in and jobs created.”

Borough council leader, Cllr Clive Sanders, added: “If we get the right attractions there, we would have a unique centre that will really bring people in from a long way away. It is money coming into the economy.

“If people are coming here, they might go to Festival Place and The Malls to shop before or after.”