Hundreds of homes, multi-storey car parks and a restaurant quarter are part of council's vision for Fareham

IS THIS the future of Fareham town centre?
West StreetWest Street
West Street

These dramatic designs for the town involve the building of hundreds of homes, taller buildings in West Street and a new multistorey car park.

The designs come from Fareham Borough Council with the local authority’s executive deciding to launch the proposals for a public consultation at a meeting last night.

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The plans feature the building of up to 900 homes across the town centre, a restaurant quarter and a new cultural arts facility to replace Ferneham Hall as revealed in The News last week.

The Lysses areaThe Lysses area
The Lysses area

The News revealed the outline of the plans for the masterplan last September and five key areas of the town have subsequently been targeted for development.

These are; West Street, the Civic area, Market Quay, Lysses car park and Fareham Railway Station.

Councillor Keith Evans, the executive member for planning said homes needed to be part of the plan.

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He said: ‘We can’t just say that we won’t take any more housing but we need to look at how best it’s brought in.

Osborn RoadOsborn Road
Osborn Road

‘We also need to look at parking and make sure we provide good parking provision for those in our town and make sure it’s close to our shops.’

Councillor Shaun Cunningham of the council’s Liberal Democrat group questioned plans to increase height of West Street buildings.

He said: ‘Why would we want to spoil the iconic West Street by building taller buildings?’

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Also amongst the proposals is to turn the area around Fareham Railway Station into ‘a transport hub’ with the council looking to see in the future if Fareham Fire Station could be included in the plans.’

Market QuayMarket Quay
Market Quay

However, the service say have no plans for the station.

Iain Hardcastle, head of the service’s physical assets said: ‘There are currently no changes planned for the station.

‘We are fully engaged with our partners at the council and committed to working together in our joint aim of benefitting the community.’

The News previously reported that Fareham Health Centre was being looked at as part of this development.

Train station areaTrain station area
Train station area
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The centre hasn’t been included as part of the proposals but Andy Wood, chief finance officer for Fareham and Gosport Clinical Commissioning Group said the CCG is in talks with the council but nothing has been decided yet.

WEST STREET

WEST Street is set to become taller under the plans in the document.

The council says that due to the need for houses on brownfield sites, the potential scope for development on existing buildings is something that should be explored.

These proposals involve encouraging shop owners, businesses and community groups along the town’s central street to fill empty units in the pedestrian area or in Fareham Shopping Centre otherwise they will be looked at for commercial or residential development.

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Private landowners on West Street would be encouraged to look at developing existing buildings to take them up to four storeys in height.

The Lysses areaThe Lysses area
The Lysses area

This idea could be pushed to both landlords of property on West Street and for the adjoining areas, which could lead to a much taller West Street then residents have become used to.

The document states that the developments would need to be consistent in style and make good use of urban land.

A four-storey, 83-bed budget hotel is currently planned to be incorporated into existing buildings at Fareham Shopping Centre.

THE LYSSES AREA

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THE Lysses area is the space from the council’s public car park behind Lysses House Hotel and beyond the Red Lion Hotel down to the back of the Tesco superstore in Quay Street.

A consultation undertaken by the council last November said that the car park was poorly used due to a lack of signage and awareness about it. An earlier survey last June found that the car park, which has 264 parking spaces, was not well used.

In response to this, the council are considering bringing in residential development to the area.

The document states that in accordance with the proposed redevelopment of Wykeham House School in East Street, homes could be created in the area which are in keeping with the Conservation Area.

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These could be up to three storeys high with private parking provided for residents.

The current Lysses car park would not be widely affected by the proposals as the council are expecting more cars in future.

OSBORN ROAD

THE proposed demolition of Osborn Road multistorey car park is set to create a domino effect in development within the Civic Area.

Following the proposed demolition, the council could use the site to build the new cultural and arts facility in addition to up to 150 new homes and a new 600-space car park.

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There are hopes for more commercial development in relation to this and while Fareham Health Centre is not included in the draft plans, it is expected to be incorporated if the buildings become surplus to requirements.

MARKET QUAY

MARKET QUAY is hoped to be a new ‘restaurant quarter’ for the centre with the council hoping to redevelop it and bring in more food and drink businesses.

The council is also looking for residential development above shops, cafes and restaurants with Fareham Police Station targeted to be included in the proposals once the force fully moves out in 2019.

Building would take place on part of the existing car park with a proposed new multistorey car park to be built in order to maintain parking demands.

TRAIN STATION

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THE area around Fareham Railway Station is targeted to become a ‘transport hub’.

Proposals to create this hub involve trying to bring more shops, businesses and community facilities on the ground floor of buildings with homes above.

The buildings would be up to four-storeys and the council plans to have car parking for businesses and residents.

Fareham Fire Station may be included in the plans, though that is likely it is to be incorporated in the design and not planned to be demolished.