AMAZON is planning to open a new distribution hub on the outskirts of Basingstoke, documents suggest.

The multinational company looks set to take one of four warehouses proposed on Oakdown Farm, adjacent to Junction 7 of the M3.

Ever since plans for the site, known as Basingstoke Gateway, were revealed by The Gazette in June, rumours have been circulating surrounding the eventual occupiers.

The Gazette has now uncovered documents which seem to indicate that online retail giant Amazon is set to take the largest of the warehouses.

The file name of a planning document submitted to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council indicates that Newlands, which is proposing the site, has a folder for ‘Amazon ARS Basingstoke’ as one of its 2020 projects.

You can read the full exclusive story in this week’s edition of The Gazette. Also in this week's paper:

  • A new walk-in coronavirus testing site has been opened at a theatre in Basingstoke.
  • A Basingstoke woman with autusm, who has met over 200 celebrities, in on a quest to meet her favourite star. 
  • Basingstoke Council has been criticised for "bailing out Serco" after it emerged that the Hook-based company, who are contracted by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to run three leisure sites in the borough, have asked for a £290,000 reimbursement for loss of income during the Covid pandemic.
  • The council has also come under fire after increasing the cost of parking permits near Basingstoke town centre by more than 50 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • A police unit who were recorded making dozens of sexist, racist and homophobic remarks was like a “lads pad”, heard a misconduct hearing which has begun this week. 
  • The leader of an anti-racism charity has spoken out about the handling of racism in schools, following concerns raised this week about The Vyne School’s handling of racial harassment and teachers’ use of a racial slur.
  • A film enthusiast from Basingstoke who groomed and sexually assaulted two schoolboys in the 1980s has been jailed for eight years.
  • A mother who was hit over the head with a crowbar in her home has criticised the police after waiting weeks for them to take DNA samples.
  • PLUS: All the latest from court.
  • Two pages of your letters to the editor.
  • A seven-page Inspire Business Awards special  
  • Two pages of news from our communities.
  • An eight-page puzzle special.
  • Three pages of entertainment news.
  • Four pages of sports news. And much more!

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