A LONG awaited jobs bonanza announced with a huge fanfare in the spring of 2001, which was expected to provide up to a 1,000 jobs in Tidworth and Ludgershall, has yet to provide a single job and may be delayed by a further year or more.

Dismayed parish councillors in Ludgershall heard that the proposal to develop the 33-acre Castledown Business Park has yet to reach planners because an agreement over highway work has reached an impasse.

When the site was announced in May 2001 Kennet District Council leader Jerry Willmott said the Regional Development Agency and the council had already had serious inquiries about the park and there were hopes that things could progress.

"By the time this gets going it will already be facing new competition from Andover, Amesbury and Marlborough and is in danger of being a non-starter," said Ludger-shall councillor Ken Beard

The bad news about the development was outlined by county councillor Mark Connolly who revealed that St Modwen properties, the large publicly quoted company developing the site, want to install a set of traffic lights on the A3026 road between Ludgershall and Tidworth.

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser.