Celebrating Fareham at 50
The inaugural annual meeting of Fareham Borough Council was held at 11am on Tuesday 9 April 1974, so 2024 represents our 'Golden Anniversary' as a Borough.
At that meeting, the Charter of Incorporation of the Borough was presented to the Mayor by the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, at that time The Right Hon The Earl of Malmesbury. The Captain of HMS Collingwood also presented the Mayor with the Civic Mace, which is used to this day for ceremonial purposes.
Since then we have had 48 Mayors of Fareham and you can find more information about them all here. There have also been seven Leaders in that time, as well as five Chief Executive Officers and 20 Honorary Aldermen.
Find out more about what we are doing to celebrate and how you can get involved here.
Fareham milestones
Since becoming a Borough, a lot has changed. Key milestones include:
- 1974 - Fareham is made a Borough
- 1974 - Dr Leslie Ellis A.A becomes Leader of the Council
- 1974 - Leslie E Page is the first Chief Executive Officer of Fareham Borough Council
- 1975 - Construction of the Civic Offices is complete
- 1976 – Mrs Margaret Gardner OBE becomes Leader of the Council
- 1980 - Fareham Leisure Centre opens to the public
- 1981 - Fareham Shopping Centre is complete
- 1981 - Oswald D Ellis becomes Chief Executive Officer of the Council
- 1982 - Ferneham Hall opens to the public
- 1984 – Mrs Dorothy J Elkins OBE becomes Leader of the Council
- 1987 – Peter K Latham becomes Leader of the Council
- 1988 - Solent Business Park opens
- 1990 - Westbury Manor Museum opens
- 1991 – Dr Harold G Jerrard B.SC. FInstP becomes Leader of the Council
- 1993 - The new Fareham bus station opens
- 1993 - Alan A Davies becomes Chief Executive Officer of the Council
- 1994 – Ernest A Crouch becomes Leader of the Council
- 1995 – Roger H Price JP becomes Leader of the Council
- 1996 - HMS Daedalus is decommissioned
- 1999 – Seán D T Woodward B.Sc.(Hons.) becomes Leader of the Council
- 2000 - Whiteley Community Centre is constructed
- 2007 - Baroness Thatcher meets Falklands veterans and unveils the Town Centre commemorative Falklands Arch
- 2009 - Peter Grimwood becomes Chief Executive Officer of the Council
- 2011 - Quay Street Tesco in Fareham opens
- 2012 - The Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus is established
- 2012 - Portchester Community Centre is built
- 2014 - Fareham Leisure Centre has a multi-million pound refurbishment
- 2015 - Fareham Borough Council purchases Daedalus from the HCA
- 2015 - The Welborne Plan is officially adopted into the Local Plan
- 2015 - Fareham Innovation Centre opens
- 2016 - Holly Hill Leisure Centre opens
- 2017 - Welborne is granted Garden Community status by the Government
- 2020 - Ferneham Hall closes for refurbishment
- 2021 - Abbey Meadows in Titchfield opens
- 2021 - Installation of the Daedalus 'gate guardian' sculpture at Deadalus
- 2022 - The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Park at Daedalus opens
- 2023 - Andrew Wannell becomes Chief Executive Officer at the Council
- 2023 - Fareham Borough Council purchases Fareham Shopping Centre