Havant Borough Council reveals its long-term regeneration vision for Havant town centre with an event for local residents, businesses and organizations, where it also showcased its new website and video which will be key to attracting investment into the area.
The ambitious and futuristic plans to transform the town centre were showcased to local businesses and community groups in a drop-in event with councillors and the team who will deliver the regeneration.
The event was held at the Meridian Shopping Centre, which was purchased by the council in December. The message from councillors is that it will be business as usual at the centre in the short term but there are longer-term plans to regenerate the town centre and the borough.
Plans include a mix of residential, retail and leisure developments that will provide much needed homes, create new jobs and entice businesses into the town.
Havant Borough Council’s immediate focus is land already owned around its offices at the Public Service Plaza. The council will work with Homes England and a development partner to deliver more than 200 homes with parking. This will help to transform this part of the town.
Building on the excellent public transport connections that already exist — a busy train station with two routes to London, and the second busiest bus station in the county — the aspiration to have electric autonomous vehicles linking the town centre direct to the waterfront, will make the borough an attractive and innovate destination.
Accepting that place-shaping is an exciting challenge that planning authorities must play a key role in, Councillor Tim Pike, Havant Borough Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Lead for Planning, Regeneration and Communities said at the launch: “We all recognise that retail is changing rapidly, and the town centre offer needs to change in order to respond. However, I’m pleased to say that footfall in the town continues to be strong, and we will be undertaking the necessary investment to ensure this remains the case.
“While our longer-term strategy may be to regenerate the centre of the town, for the moment we will support the Meridian Shopping Centre and the tenants so that it is as successful as possible.
“We are excited to launch our new website and video today which we will be using to attract investment into the area.”
