Purpose

To seek Executive approval of the
Fareham Town Centre Regeneration Strategy 2025-2035 alongside approval of the
proposed increase to the Revenue Base Budget and identified project budgets to
support the long-term delivery of the Strategy.

 

To seek Executive approval of the
proposed Stage one Masterplanning work and the
associated capital budget.

 

The Council has a strong ambition
to reverse the decline of Fareham Town Centre through regeneration, recognising
the wider placemaking, economic regeneration and health benefits a more
successful town centre would bring.

 

Fareham’s town centre has a key
role in supporting the economy of the Borough. 
It is the highest-ranking destination in the Council’s retail hierarchy
and as such, provides the main location for retail, leisure, entertainment and
cultural activities for the Borough’s residents.

 

Work has already begun to deliver
the Council’s significant regeneration ambition with the construction of
Fareham Live, the demolition and replacement of Osborn Road multi storey car
park, the purchase of Birks Building (also known as Foresters Hall) for housing
development, alongside the purchase of Fareham Shopping Centre in September
2023.

 

The Council appointed an asset
manager to manage the Shopping Centre, alongside regeneration consultants to
support the development of a deliverable and realistic Regeneration
Strategy.  Stage 1 and 2 of this work was
reported to the Executive in January and March of 2024 respectively.

 

Stage 3 of this work has now been
completed after a further round of detailed analysis and consideration.  This is provided at Appendix A ‘Fareham Town
Centre Regeneration Strategy: Analysis and opportunity Assessment’.

 

This work has informed the
development of the Fareham Town Centre Regeneration Strategy 2025-2035, which
also considers the Council’s Corporate Priorities resourcing requirements and
the need for economic and residential growth in the town as reflected in the
Fareham Local Plan 2037.

 

The ‘Fareham Town Centre
Regeneration Strategy 2025-2035’ is provided at Appendix B to the report.

Decision

RESOLVED that the Executive:

 

(a)  approves
the Fareham Town Centre Regeneration Strategy at Appendix B to the report;

 

(b)  subject
to the approval of recommendation (a) above, approves an annual increase to the
base revenue budget of £177,000 for 2025/2026 (and ongoing) for the continued
delivery of regeneration workstreams;

 

(c)  subject
to the approval of recommendation (a) above, approves a maximum one off revenue
expenditure of

 

·        
£61,000 for the work relating to Movement,
Access, Safety and Parking.

·        
£48,000 for the cost of Security as part of the
Fareham Shopping Centre evening route operation.

·        
£25,000 for the work relating to Fareham Brand
Creation.

 

and delegates
authority to the Director of Planning and Regeneration to enter
into or vary contracts to secure the delivery of this, within the agreed
budget;

 

(d)  subject
to the approval of recommendation (a) above, approves a maximum capital
expenditure of £1,050,000 for the next stage of development of the Fareham
Shopping Centre and Fareham Live Masterplan and delegates authority to the
Director of Planning and Regeneration, following consultation with the Section
151 Officer and the Executive Member for Policy and Resources, to agree the
final scope and brief and to enter into contracts to
secure this, within the agreed budget; and

 

(e)  subject
to the approval of recommendation (a) above, delegates authority to the
Director of Planning and Regeneration to agree any minor amendments necessary
to the Regeneration Strategy to address minor drafting, grammatical or editing
errors prior to formal publication.