AFTER speaking to nearly 1,500 Basingstoke and Deane residents, an idea of what the future of the borough may look like has been set out.

Following thousands of hours of conversations outlining what the people of the borough would like to see shape the future of the area, ‘Horizon 2050’ has been adopted by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and the Basingstoke Area Strategic Partnership (BASP).

Horizon 2050 is a document which reflects the current views of residents, businesses and organisations in the borough, outlining a framework for the future of Basingstoke and Deane.

Leader of the borough council, Councillor Clive Sanders said: “This is a unique opportunity in that this is what residents have told us what they want.

“Our forefathers had the right idea in having the vision to look ahead to the future and make sure infrastructure was in place with the roads and so forth.

“However, now a lot of the buildings are reaching their sell-by date and we need to look ahead to the future and get a grip of how Basingstoke will look in 30 years.”

Cllr Sanders said from the feedback given by residents, there were four main areas people wanted to see a focus on in the document. These were housing, health, safety, and jobs.

However, something that did come out during the consultation period for Horizon 2050 has been people want to see the borough take a greener approach.

The leader added: “A lot of what we saw in the feedback was too be expected and is very similar to what those before us saw.

“However, a focus on a greener agenda is clearly something that residents want to see, and we have already seen steps to make that happen take place.

“In an ideal world we would be producing our own renewable energy, but that is potentially something we can work towards.”

Even though Horizon 2050 has been formally adopted by the borough council and BASP, it is not a council policy to be strictly adhered to going forward.

However, Cllr Sanders said this document will act as a guideline for any future planning developments.

He added: “We are going to have this as a framework, almost like a bit of a check list, on how does a development meet the needs of Horizon 2050.

“If it does meet it, then how? If not is it something that councillors want to recommend for approval.”

Cllr Sanders said he hopes that other authorises will look at this framework and help shape their own future visions.