A PLAN to help Whitchurch residents avoid the stress, cost and environmental damage of commuting has been announced.

Working for Whitchurch, a group that works with the Whitchurch Association to improve things for businesses in the town, hopes to set up a community work centre to encourage more people to work from home.

The centre would consist of a small internet-connected office, where people could either drop-in or pre-book a desk to do their work.

Secretarial services could also be provided if needed.

Stewart Parrington, one of the people behind the Working for Whitchurch project, said: "The idea comes from a Hampshire County Council initiative to try to get people working from home using things like e-commerce.

"So many people leave Whitchurch every morning to go to the office and if it were possible for them to stay in the town, it would be great for the town, the environment and their quality of life.

"Trying to get people to work from home and work smart is part of the town centre plan. This scheme would be ideal, but one of the first things we have to do to secure funding is assess the demand for it."

Plans for the centre are still at an early stage and no location has yet been decided on.

It is hoped that the scheme might be funded by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), but before it can apply, Working for Whitchurch needs to prove there is a need for such a centre.

To register interest in the proposal, log on to www.thewhitchurchweb.org and use the contact page provided.

9:44am Tuesday 15th May 2007

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