IT IS the £200million vision which will transform an ageing Basingstoke leisure park into a top nationwide destination for sporting and recreation.

Developers have unveiled the first look at plans to overhaul Basingstoke Leisure Park into a thriving complex generating thousands of jobs and pulling in thousands of visitors to the town.

The complex – which will be the biggest of its kind in the country – will boost high adrenaline and water-based facilities already there with proposals for a new aquadrome and velodrome alongside a shopping village, lakes and nature areas – almost doubling the size of the current park.

Now the developers behind the vision have urged civic chiefs to get the behind multimillion pound scheme they say will put the town on the map as a major tourist destination and create 2,400 jobs.

The plans for the 60-acre site have been released by NewRiver Retail to rejuvenate the park off Worting Road which was developed in the 1980s and 1990s.

As previously reported Basingstoke Borough Council, which owns the park, entered an exclusivity agreement with the developer in February, to encourage major new investment to upgrade facilities there which include a swimming pool, a sports centre, ice rink and events arena.

NewRiver Retail initially proposed upgrading the site with a concept of physical zones in the leisure park including entertainment, sport and adrenaline, water-based and fitness, health and speciality plus a market square with restaurants while Saunders Field, a water meadow off Thornycroft Roundabout, could be preserved and turned into an ecology zone.

Now they have launched a much larger redevelopment plan which would include a new aquadrome to replace the ageing swimming pool and sports centre, along with a dual use ice rink and events arena.

Other new attractions that could also feature include a velodrome and a shopping village selling world-leading designer brands at discount prices.

The new layout centring around lakes and entertainment areas.

Councillors got a first look at the plans at a briefing this week before the park’s existing tennants will be consulted on the vision.

But a formal development agreement will be required between NewRiver Retail and the council before more detailed plans are released and public consultation is launched and a planning application submitted.

Developers want to put in a planning application at the end of next year with the aim of starting work in 2018.

But first councillors will also consider it at next month’s Community Environment and Partnerships Committee and at cabinet next month after which public consultation will be launched.

Francois Nairac, development director at NewRiver Retail, said: “We are very pleased with the progress that we have made to create an exciting new leisure destination in Basingstoke. Our scheme has evolved, and although we have retained a clear emphasis on leisure, the growing popularity of designer outlet centres and the unmet demand for one along the M3 corridor has meant that we would like to include this in the overall scheme.”

Council cabinet leader on the leisure park regeneration Cllr John Izett said: “These are significant early stage proposals which would transform our Leisure Park and deserve to be considered and looked at in more detail.

"They amount to an ambitious and exciting opportunity for the borough and we owe it to residents and future generations to consider bold and innovative action to keep the leisure park flourishing. A leisure scheme on this scale would really put the borough on the map, providing new facilities that people who live here deserve.”

If the partnership goes forward following the six-month period, they are granted a 250-year lease of the leisure park.

The borough council could then rake in £400,000 a year as the freeholder.

Hampshire Chamber of Commerce president and chairman Andrew Finney said: “Having first class state-of-the-art facilities for the workforce is a key part of a successful business component.

“It will create new jobs for Basingstoke. The town is already a great sub regional hub for business and leisure and we look forward to how this progresses.

“The leisure park can’t stay as it is as some of the facilities are reaching the end of their useful life and they need renewing.”