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West Street Public Realm

West Street is an important part of the town centre. Lying between Fareham Shopping Centre and Market Quay, the pedestrianised area is regularly used for markets and town centre events, while the vehicular section of the route leads to many independent shops and is the main route for the railway and bus stations.

In October 2025 the Council's Executive approved a range of public realm improvements to support the wider Fareham Town Centre Regeneration Strategy:

The first two of these projects are now underway.

Play Area - improvements set to begin in August 2026

The new West Street play area will provide a high-quality, inclusive and engaging play space, which has been thoughtfully designed to celebrate Fareham's distinctive maritime heritage, civic identity, and vibrant town centre character.

Photo of anvil man on the Fareham highstreet

Designed for children aged 3 -12, the play area will provide a welcoming environment that encourages active play for all abilities while reinforcing a strong sense of place. It will also provide a family-friendly space within West Street, with social seating and landscaping framing the space.

New items of equipment will include wheelchair-accessible units, surfacing and ground-level play features; sensory-rich equipment catering to neurodiverse children and vestibular stimulation such as the 'Spinner Bowl' and 'Sunflower Swing'; braille and communication boards supporting children with visual and language needs and more social play opportunities for mixed-age and mixed-ability groups. These elements ensure that all children, regardless of ability, can engage meaningfully and socially with the space. 

Also moving to the play area, is the existing 'Anvil Man' sculpture.

Currently located at the entrance to the shopping centre, 'Anvil Man' is a popular attraction for our younger visitors. Moving the sculpture to the play area will enable children to continue to enjoy Anvil Man as part of their play experience. 

Tipping Scales Photo of the Tipping Scales outside of the Fareham Shopping Centre

The Tipping Scales is a wrought iron sculpture that was completed as part of the Henry Cort Millennium Project in 2000. For the first few years, it operated as a water feature; however, since 2005 this has not been the case and  it has remained purely as a static sculpture.

Further works on West Street will include redesigning the area around the Tipping Scales to include new seating and plant beds. Work in the area began in June 2026 with investigations under the sculpture prior to designs being developed. 

This work will be funded by UK Shared Prosperity Funding, and feeds into the Council's Town Centre Regeneration Strategy to give Fareham a busier and greener town centre that is easier to move around and feels safe, welcoming and loved.