Plans for the new cultural quarter are growing to be more ambitious as two of Andover’s major stakeholders have asked to be included in the project.

The former Andover Magistrates’ Court site will be undergoing a revamp which could include a brand new theatre, eateries with outdoor seating overlooking a plaza area and community and leisure facilities to add to Andover’s new leisure centre.

Andover College and Simplyhealth, which are located nearby the site, have now been in discussions with Test Valley Borough Council’s (TVBC) to include and combine their land in the proposed redevelopment.

They will be included in the upcoming market engagement exercise looking to hear from potential developers with their design ideas.

TVBC council leader Councillor Phil North said: “As a result of these additional expressions of interest, the combined sites in this location represent an even more exciting prospect for a major redevelopment.

“This means that we will now be issuing an updated market engagement notice to reflect this new and significant opportunity and to hear from developers what options might be possible. As previously stated, we will undertake a considerable public consultation exercise to help us decide and shape which ideas to pursue.”

Andover College as an adjacent landowner to the proposed cultural quarter hopes to explore the opportunity to provide new college facilities on their site as part of the new project.

Andover College principal Tim Jackson said: “Our town centre location is important to us for students to access bus and train services and our continued success has led us to consider expanding and improving our facilities.

“This venture by the council provides scope for us to become involved and play an even larger part in the future of the town.”

Simplyhealth is also looking to see what redevelopment options are possible for its Anton House location. The firm has 850 employees in Andover as a whole.

The widening scope of the project has caused the five days of developer meetings to be rearranged for one month later to allow potential partners more time to respond.

A revised notice will be published next week.