Council announce Welborne Village Centre approval

By Connor Steel

FAREHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL has announced that their ‘planning committee’ has officially approved the application to create a village centre as part of the multi-million pound Welborne Garden Village scheme; which is described as an extremely ambitious development that is focused on bringing six thousand new properties to a location just off the M27.

The recent proposals were submitted by Buckland Development early this year and looked at adding crucial provisions for ‘future’ residents in Welborne; as well as several flats and houses. These provisions included a new primary school, nursery facility, GP surgery, pharmacy, stores and a community hall that would all combine to create the Village Centre.

Designs have been inspired by the popular villages of Wickham and Alresford with construction works set to begin later this year, where it is expected to take 30 months to complete fully. Once constructed the village centre will ‘incorporate’ an importance of sustainability with EV charging points and a low carbon water source heat network for most buildings.

Local businesses have offered their contributions to the design and planning phase, whilst favourable lease terms have been offered to allow the companies to establish themselves within the village. This would help to boost the community relations and allow easy access for all residents, whilst creating job vacancies and an opportunity for those businesses.

There will further be a chance for residents to sample nature as the centre will be a short walk from two new parks that were included in this proposal; which will be called Welborne Park and Dashwood Park. It is planned that a new public access is to be given to 38-hectares of Dashwood ancient woodland, a Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC).

This latest planning approval is set to cost £50 to implement and marks a major step forward for this project, which was first muted over two decades ago. Currently the first wave of 474 homes is being constructed on space nearby junction 10 after being initially approved in early 2024, and it is believed that the first few properties are close to being fully built.

Readers can read a full quote from Councillor David Foot here and Fareham Borough Council have furthermore set up a designated page about the project on their website; which includes history of Welborne, planning detail, and updates.

PICTURED BY BUCKLAND DEVELOPMENT: An aerial photo of planned ‘Welborne Village Centre’ created using CGI.