Our Vision for the Future of the Daedalus Site

In 2015, the Council acquired 369 acres of land at Daedalus from the Homes and Communities Agency (now Homes England) for £1.  The site, which has outline planning permission for over 50,000m2 of commercial development, forms part of the Solent Enterprise Zone , which has been the catalyst for the development of a new £12m college, a multi-million-pound Stubbington Bypass  scheme and the development of mixed use Waterfront regeneration area .  

Following extensive engagement with various stakeholders and public consultation, in 2015 the Council adopted a Vision and Outline Strategy for Daedalus, setting out its ambitions for the airfield site.  

"Our vision is for Daedalus to become a premier location for aviation, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing businesses, creating many skilled employment opportunities for local people, underpinned by a vibrant and sustainable airfield.  Building on the existing general aviation uses, the airfield will be an attractive destination for visiting aircraft and will offer the hangars, facilities and services to attract more corporate and commercial aviation activities, allowing it to be self-sustaining in the medium term and contribute positively to the local community."

Specific objectives were:

• To develop 37.91 ha of employment land at Daedalus East, now known as Faraday Business Park, as a commercial business development park attracting target-sector based businesses with 28,000 m2 of workspace including a skills and innovation cluster, an aviation cluster with hangarage for general aviation and commercial aviation businesses, and 1 or 2 large strategic businesses.
• To develop 20 ha of employment land at Daedalus West, now known as Swordfish Business Park, as a commercial business development park attracting target-sector based businesses with 22,000 m2 of workspace including an aviation cluster, with medium-large sized hangarage for commercial aviation businesses
• To maintain and grow the airfield for general aviation and corporate/commercial aviation as a driver for highly skilled employment opportunities, improving the airfield infrastructure and facilities and increasing flight movements to 40,000 per year
• To develop the area to the north of the site as accessible area of natural green space with a rich habitat, providing a link between Stubbington and the Alver Valley, together with play facilities and formal park space.

So far, we have delivered or supported the delivery of:

Faraday Business Park

• 9.2 hectares of land at Faraday Business Park serviced and released in 2015
• 8492 m2 commercial buildings constructed at Faraday Business Park
• Key target sector occupiers including Proptech Aero , UTP 
• The £5.3m Fareham Innovation Centre , developed in 2015 and extended in 2018
• CETC , the Civil Engineering Training Centre
• Three new speculative commercial units, offering a total of 5,500 m2 of workspace
• The National Grid Interconnexion France/Angleterre (IFA2 )

Solent Airport

• £1.5m runway improvements
• CAA licence and Border Force approval for flights to/from the EU, Isle of Man and Channel Islands
• £0.5m Air Traffic Control Tower refurbishment providing a corporate lounge, meeting rooms, shower and toilet facilities and visitor café
• Introduction of Flight Information Service (FISO) and fuel farm
• 5 new General Aviation hangars and 6 new Business hangars constructed and let;
• Key target sector occupier - Britten Norman 
• National Air Traffic Service (NATS) Training Radar Facility
• Regional and City Airports Ltd  appointed as Solent Airport Operator  since 2016
• Flight movements of 35,000 in 2022
• Heritage events

Community Facilities

• Daedalus Play Area in December 2020
• Daedalus Gate Guardian sculpture 2021

The Council's vision : Three Years On

In 2018 the Council published a report revisiting the Vision, three years after it was adopted.  The report considers the progress made in fulfilling the Council's stated objectives for Solent Airport at Daedalus and business parks.  

Daedalus Vision and Outline Strategy Three Years On (3 MB).

Financing Our Vision for Daedalus

The Council owns the Daedalus site and runs it as part of its portfolio of public services from the General Fund revenue budget.  We have invested over £30M on the Daedalus site since 2015, with around £9.5M in grant funding and the remainder funded from the Council's reserves, prudential borrowing and a £3.2M Growing Places Loan from Hampshire County Council.  A detailed summary of how the investments have been funded can be found here. 

Daedalus Financial Strategy

The Council has developed a financial framework for the operation of and investment in the Daedalus site, in support of the Council's Vision for Daedalus. The overarching principle of the Daedalus Financial Strategy is that the Council's interest in the whole Daedalus site should make a sustained positive contribution to the Council's overall financial position and, as a minimum, the revenue costs associated with operating and investing in Daedalus should be cost neutral to council taxpayers.  In 2021/22, the Council's activities at Daedalus returned a surplus of £193,795.  Details of the Daedalus Revenue Outturn for 2021/22 can be found here.