Basingstoke and Deane is an ambitious borough and we are striving to deliver more for our residents and businesses for generations to come.

But it is also the kind of place that recognises the importance of retaining its heritage and protecting established communities and the wonderful natural environment that surrounds us.

Identifying key areas of the borough with regional importance and setting a vision for them with input from partners and residents is crucial as we move forward.

And this piece of work is taking place for the area north of junction seven of the M3 right now. We are asking residents, local community groups businesses and other organisations to have their say on our draft vision for the area. The consultation is open until January 15, 2021, at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/visionM3-j7-land.

The idea of this is to highlight areas where investment, especially in infrastructure, or more detailed work would be needed, helping other local services to plan ahead in a coordinated way.

That is why opinions, ideas and comments are so important to make this a joined-up, proactive and well-thought through way forward, as we all look beyond the current unusual times and towards a brighter future for our area.

This is an important gateway to the town and integral to this is the possibility of a new north Hampshire hospital site adjacent to the A30. We wholeheartedly support Hampshire Together’s bold concept of an integrated local health and social care system, which includes a new state-of-the-art medical campus, to provide the highest level of healthcare for our residents, now and in the future.

We are planning ahead for an enlivened borough well into the 21st century which will be enhanced via our ambitions on mass rapid transport, feeding into our great transport links and our business centres, especially Basing View.

The world of work will undoubtedly change on the basis of us all working differently post the COVID-19 pandemic, and Basing View’s regeneration will play an important role in that.

We take climate change seriously. Public transport, walking and cycle links need to be improved and planned in from an early stage if we are to deliver on our challenging climate emergency targets.

It is vital that we all get involved and play our part in shaping the future.