Residents have the chance to have their say on the regeneration of the area during a consultation exercise taking place this week.

Gosport Borough Council and Colin Buchanan consultants have come up with the first stages of the plans but want to hear from as many residents as possible about what they would like to see for the waterfront by the end of the week.

The council hopes the blueprint will pave the way for transforming Gosport into a tourist destination.

The proposed development stretches from the historic Royal Clarence Yard at one end of Gosport to Haslar Marina at the other, and includes the High Street shopping area. The cable car idea was among dozens submitted by members of the public. Others include hotels, conference suites, performance halls, shops, houses, restaurants as well as an 'iconic' landmark building..

Among those visiting was Diane Daniels, of Fort Road, Gosport, who said: 'Anything that improves Gosport would be brilliant. But they need to sort out the problems with the A32 to get more people to come here first. It is a beautiful marina but we are really about 20 years behind everybody else here.'

Cllr Mark Hook, leader of the council, has previously said the development was likely to cost more than £100 million. Peter Dijkhuis, associate director at Colin Buchanan, said: 'We are still in the early stages of the masterplan.

'We want to gauge the response to these ideas and this exhibition gives people a chance to come along and have a look at their own pace.

'Gosport is a fantastic place and it just needs everybody to believe that. We have to accept we have been through the worst recession and we want to minimise the risk to developers.'

Mary Wells, of Crown Mews, Clarence Road, Gosport, said: 'It's early days, I wonder how long all of this will take.

'It looks a good idea but I wonder whether it will actually work out.' The exhibition is open from 9am until 7pm at The Discovery Centre in Gosport until Saturday.

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