HE’S called it a faded jewel in Basingstoke’s crown – but borough council leader Andrew Finney believes a revamped and revitalised Basing View business hub can deliver in the region of 15,000 new jobs.

Councillor Finney made the bold pledge during an exclusive interview with The Gazette about the future for the borough, and in particular the role that can be played by Basingstoke and Deane’s Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).

The LSP brings together representatives from councils, organisations representing specific interests, such as road safety and housing, and bodies representing various groups, such as the young and the elderly.

Cllr Finney, who is LSP vice-chairman as well as the council leader, and LSP chairman Stephen Sheedy, who is also principal of Queen Mary’s College, spoke about their desire to create a vision guiding the borough’s development for a generation.

Business was an issue at the heart of their thinking, and a central plank to job creation will be pushing ahead with the regeneration of Basing View.

Cllr Finney said the borough needs to create employment opportunities in locations close to public transport and community facilities. He added that Basing View – which was once a thriving business hub but now has many empty and run-down buildings in its midst – is ideally suited given its proximity to the train and bus stations, the town centre and the motorway.

Cllr Finney said: “It’s superbly connected, and therefore delivered in the right way, it’s a very sustainable, relatively green business location that has the potential to deliver a huge amount to Basingstoke and Deane and its residents.

“Fully developed out, something like 15,000 extra jobs could be created on a fully redeveloped Basing View.

“It would be one of the largest business area regeneration projects in the south east, indeed in the country, if you look at the total area of floor space that could be redeveloped.

“Regardless of where the economy is, and assuming we don’t end up in a prolonged recession, my guess would be from now to a fully redeveloped Basing View would be a 20-year programme, but with key milestones throughout that process.

“It’s vitally important that we get it right and that we maintain the appearance and the feel, and we invest in the infrastructure necessary to make sure it’s successful.”

Regeneration of the business district has been on the cards for years, but it was only in January that the borough council approved the first part of a planned £1.5million scheme of public realm improvements.

Cllr Finney hinted more radical action is likely to follow, but could not go into specific details because of ongoing negotiations with businesses based in Basing View.

He added: “You will see something happen on Basing View by the end of this year.”

Mr Sheedy said economic development should not be limited to Basingstoke.

He said: “There’s a kind of organic relationship between the rural and quasi-rural surrounds of Basingstoke and the town itself, and we mustn’t forget that there are rural industries that have the same needs in terms of quality of employment, of training for their staff, and of infrastructure improvements.

“Getting people to work from the motorway out to some of the rural industries is a nightmare in the morning and night at the moment, the way things are currently structured.”

Outlining other initiatives coming forward to support business, Cllr Finney said the council had been the first to create a venture capital fund supporting new technology and an updated version of that would be coming forward in the next few months.

The council also wants to create a learning campus to expand the higher education offer in Basingstoke and that scheme would include incubator units for new businesses, spun off from research.

See today's Gazette for more on this story.