Welborne: Go-ahead to create a village centre in new Hampshire town which is being created

Master builders Buckland Developers were given the go ahead by Fareham Borough Council planning committee for the next step in the first phase of creating the 6,000 home development with the village centre created immediately alongside an area where housebuilding is currently underway.

The village centre includes space for a GP surgery and pharmacy, a nursery, a pub/hotel, the town hall, cafes, shops, a bakery, a band stand with public squares. 71 more, one to three storey homes will also be added to the 474 that have already been approved and being built by the three appointed house builders Fry, Pye and Thackham. 

Nearby is a two-form entry primary school and a nursery and the Village Centre is designed so some residents can “park and stride”. This means residents can park their cars in the centre, walk to drop their children at school, and buy what they might need before heading out to work, said senior planning associate Joseph Carr of David Lock.

The Village Centre is positioned with the Knowle Road running along its southern boundary.  Housing plans and parking in the Village Centre including 14 affordable homes were brought under scrutiny by the council planning committee at the meeting on July 25. 

The affordable homes are designed for elderly living and are all in one building, fronting the village centre with two wheelchair accessible units: twelve, one-bedroom and two, two-bedroom with a parking court to the rear.

The disability scooter charging and parking provision for the 14 units for the elderly along with parking requirements for disability, electric charging points for residents and visitors in the village centre were discussed by members.

Councillor Gemma Furnivall (Lab, Fort Fareham) gave a resounding “no”, saying she wasn’t happy with the allocation of three disabled bays in the Village Centre. She said to encourage people with disabilities into the centre there had to be a greater allocation of parking.

Mr Carr said: “Even at its worst case scenario when the [Village Centre] is at its busiest, there will be parking spaces available within the village centre. It will be an evolving situation and there is the opportunity to provide parking provision elsewhere. We are looking at one slice of Welborne.” 

He said: “It’s the challenge with delivering anything on this scale on a phased basis, that what works today will not necessarily work in 10-15 years and we have to be quite free and flexible with that approach going forward.”

Councillor Jacquie Needham (Con, Stubbington) was concerned about mobility scooter charging provision for the elderly – the planners had already thought of it and members were reassured by a buggy charging bay on the ground floor of the elderly living building.

Cllr Furnivall suggested “rest-stops” and benches be built along the pedestrian and cycle routes to the village to encourage and support walking to the village by the less mobile.

Chairman of the Buckland Group, Mark Thistlethwayte, said the new village centre would create a heart of a brand new community, with favourable rents being offered to the first occupants pre-footfall in a bid to attract new businesses.

He said: “In designing the Welborne Village Centre, we are aiming to create a community hub right from the start, with all the essential amenities residents will need within a beautiful setting. 

“For the design, we have drawn architectural inspiration from popular Hampshire market towns like Alresford and Stockbridge.

“Whether it’s having a coffee in your favourite café, picking up your Sunday roast from the local butchers, or having a drink in a charming pub garden, the Centre will offer the best of local produce and hospitality. 

“The early delivery of comprehensive community infrastructure is core to the Welborne development approach, which we believe is an essential investment for the long-term both financially and socially.”

Plans approved by the committee were for a wider area around the Village Centre and included utility connections, soil movement, drainage, construction access and egress and ancillary engineering operations reference P/23/1644/RM 

Planning chairman at Fareham Borough Council, Councillor David Foot, said: “It is fantastic that the development is progressing at pace at Welborne and that the day to day needs of future residents are to be met at the earliest opportunity.

The Village Centre is of a very high-quality design and the Planning committee recognised the considerable efforts of the landowner, their development team and the Council’s Officers in ensuring that this is the case. I look forward to seeing the Village Centre being delivered in the near future as an important part of what will make the Welborne Garden Village a great place to live and work.”

The Village Centre should be completed by 2027.