Decision Maker: Executive

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: February 19, 2026

Purpose: This report provides an overview of the results of the community consultation undertaken at the part of the Holly Hill Woodland Rediscovered Project. The report seeks approval for an additional capital programme allocation as part of the Delivery Phase National Lottery Fund application to preserve and enhance this important heritage, ecological and recreational site.   Holly Hill is a 36-hectare woodland park is Fareham’s largest public open space and is an important site for the Council’s carbon mitigation due to the large area of established mature woodland present on site, in addition to the many recreational and health benefits that the site provides.   Fareham Borough Council has secured a Development Phase grant of £111,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for the restoration of Holly Hill Woodland Park.   The Council are contributing a further £60,000 to the Development Phase resulting in an intervention rate of 63%. The intervention rate is the percentage of total project costs funded by the NLHF.   The Development Phase enables vital design, costing and community consultation work to be undertaken to inform the main Delivery Phase application.   An extensive public consultation exercise was undertaken between June to October 2025. The process has enabled us to understand the needs of our residents and the opportunities at Holly Hil to inform the development of the Delivery Phase application. 840 people shared their views through online surveys, pop up events, interviews and lived experience focus groups.   As a result of the consultation, it was identified that:   Whilst people living with disabilities would like to visit, the network of paths, including the accessible route, are too challenging in terms of gradient, width and composition. The toilets at Holly Hill are of an old-fashioned design, difficult to keep clean and no longer fit for purpose to meet the needs of residents. A modern design using the existing shell of the building is needed to enhance safety and accessibility to improve the resident experience. An arrival area providing a functional space with interpretation to learn more about the heritage, history and biodiversity of the site is needed. The Hub will form a place for visitors to congregate for educational activities and offer an accessible and inclusive viewing platform from which to enjoy the main lake whilst mitigating the impact of erosion.   As a result of the consultation, the costs for the Delivery Phase have increased and it is estimated that a potential additional £595,065.91 is needed to respond to the needs of our residents.   A maximum uplift in capital allocation of £297,532.96 is needed to address the funding gap. This represents 50% of the total potential additional cost with the NLHF meeting the other 50%.   If the NLHF are unable to increase their contribution, value engineering approaches will be discussed with the Architect. This does pose the risk of not delivering the community informed programme of improvements, but officers will prioritise this activity as part of the decision-making process.  

Content: RESOLVED that the Executive:   (a)  supports the outcomes of the community consultation to enable the Delivery Phase submission to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to reflect the needs of our residents to enable an additional community informed programme of improvements to be delivered as part of the wider restoration of Holly Hill Woodland Park;   (b)  agrees in principle to allocate additional capital funding of up to £297,532.96 from the New Forest Mitigation funds and S.106 Contributions, to be used in the event that the National Lottery funding award is not received in full; and   (c)  delegates authority to the Director of Streetscene, following consultation with the Executive Member for Streetscene, to finalise the capital allocation once the additional Lottery grant funding is determined and to confirm this figure to the Executive.