We are making great progress in delivering investment into Basingstoke. Working with our partners, the council is now seeing the hard work pay off in new affordable homes, shops, facilities, employment space and leisure.

The Manydown land deal is finally done so work to start development can move forward. Preparation can start on the infrastructure-led project and the detailed design of the homes and facilities with our partners Urban&Civic. That means we have unlocked the delivery of 1,400 affordable homes.

The AA and other businesses will move into a new Grade A office building called Plant in Basing View, after a £30m refurbishment project that the council played a role in enabling. More national names are expected to sign leases there in the next few months.

READ MORE: Plan for 3,520 houses being drawn up as landmark Manydown deal is completed

Cllr Paul HarveyCllr Paul Harvey (Image: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council) We have seen investment in new restaurants, shops and leisure in Festival Place. The leasehold of Festival Place is now being sold, so we will see further progress in rejuvenating our town centre with new investors.

The Malls continues to be hugely successful as we let the vacancies to new shops. Compared to other shopping centres footfall is really strong. John Lewis has just announced Go Outdoors will be taking the other side of the Waitrose building.

A new sports bar is opening in Basingstoke’s Top of the Town. The recently-launched town and village centre grants scheme has already attracted interest from 19 different types of businesses across Top of the Town, Whitchurch, and Overton wanting to improve the look and feel of their premises.

AWE is running consultations on plans for major investment in Basingstoke. Great Wolf is progressing their work towards a planning application for one of only three of their leisure resorts coming to this country. The procurement process for the new Aquadrome will soon get underway.

There are always a lot of urban myths floating around about the town centre and about our borough generally, and talking the town down needs to stop. We need to start shouting about the positive investment we are seeing because it means jobs; it means new homes, socially rented homes; it means new businesses and a thriving town and borough.

Basingstoke is buzzing and it is not happening by accident. This is all part of our plans, and our partners’ plans, to unlock our town’s true potential, but more than that, actually deliver economic success so we lift everyone up