Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is named after the largest town and the smallest village. The borough covers an area of over 245 square miles in North Hampshire of which over 90% is rural. The rest of the borough is made up of villages and rural hamlets and countryside and includes 47 conservation areas. There are 16 infant, 16 junior, 26 primary and 11 secondary schools in the borough which are supported by Hampshire County Council.
The town centre attracts a large number of local and regional shoppers. Festival Place with top high-street shops and restaurants and The Malls with the recent additions of Primark and Starbucks. There is lots to see and do around the borough. The rolling hills and woodlands of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty cover a section of the western side of the borough, offering lots of opportunities for outdoor pursuits such as walking and cycling.
The borough is twinned with Alencon in France, Braine-L’Alleud in Belgium and Euskrichen in Germany.
The borough council collects a variety of facts and figures about the population of the borough enabling it to ensure services cater for residents’ needs.