Fareham Borough Landscape Assessment

May 1996

Character Area 29

Fareham Town Centre

Description

The town centre is defined as the area centred on High Street and West Street. In the north it is defined by Southampton Road and in the south by Western Way. The area is mostly commercial and retail, however it does include a large area of older residential and a small area of traditional industry.

The essential characteristics of the town centre are: * two adjoining conservation areas, one including the historic High Street, the other including the fine detached villas on Osborn Road, brick/flint walls, large gardens and mature trees; * West Street is smaller scale and trafficked at its western end becoming larger scale and pedestrianised at its eastern end; * the Civic Centre area is large scale, but lacks the street pattern and human scale evident in the High Street and other parts of the town centre; * large vehicled areas such as service yards, large areas of car parking, and the bus depot; * the main shopping and Civic Centre area has very few street trees or good quality public spaces; * the High Street has exceptional architectural and townscape qualities; * very close to the town centre there is a mixture of suburban housing, semi-detached, large detached and some terraced housing; * Eastern Way, Western Way and the railway form a strong barrier to pedestrian links from the south; * the undeveloped valley side east of High Street and west of Wallington Way.

Enhancement Priorities

There are widely contrasting approaches to urban quality in the town centre. At one end of the scale there is the need to conserve the exceptional urban quality found in both Conservation Areas. At the other end of the scale there is the need to overcome the vehicle-dominated landscape surrounding the shopping and Civic Centre end of town and to improve the environment at the western end of West Street.

Priorities for enhancement are: * to improve the environmental quality on West Street and around the shopping and Civic Centre; * to make the pedestrian links under Western Way much more attractive; * to create much better pedestrian links between North Fareham through the shopping and Civic Centre to West Street; * to enclose and to screen the large open areas forming car parks and service areas. * where possible to extend the urban quality of the High Street round onto West Street; * to improve the area around the railway station and to improve pedestrian links to it; * to improve the environmental quality of the key gateways into the town centre, such as the station roundabout, the Quay Street roundabout and the Delmé roundabout; * to protect the mature trees in private gardens and public areas; * to greatly increase the number of street trees particularly in the southern half of the town centre.