Farnborough Civic Quarter, Rushmoor
Farnborough Civic Quarter opportunity / type:
Farnborough’s Civic Quarter redevelopment offers a transformational opportunity to regenerate the town through investment in a key town centre location in accordance with local aspirations. Rushmoor Borough Council’s aim is for the Civic Quarter to be a vibrant mixed-use space, providing new town centre homes, active ground floor uses and the re-provision of a state-of-the-art leisure centre, library and community hub.
The site is currently home to Farnborough Library, offices (Westmead House), a skate park, surface car parks and public realm. It was also home to the now-demolished Police Station and Elles Hall Community Centre. The existing leisure centre is currently being demolished by the Council in preparation for re-provision.
A high-quality public realm will underpin the development, with an enhanced, flexible central green space forming the focal point, and improved pedestrian linkages between the Town Centre, Farnborough Business Park and development areas to the south. To deliver this comprehensive redevelopment, the RDP and the Council is committed to working closely with other landowners, developers, transport operators and public sector agencies.
Details:
Planning
The Rushmoor Local Plan guides the location, scale and type of future development in Rushmoor Borough up to 2032 and provides detailed development management policies to be used in determining planning application. Policy SP2.3 provides the planning policy context for the site’s regeneration.
The Farnborough Civic Quarter Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) sets out a vision, design and delivery principles and an example scheme layout to guide future development in the Civic Quarter. The SPD will act as a material consideration for Rushmoor Borough Council in decision making regarding planning applications for proposed development in the area.
An outline planning application has been submitted by the Rushmoor Development Partnership in February 2022 for a mixed use scheme comprising the erection of up to 1,006 residential units (Use Class C3) and non-residential floorspace comprising of the following mix of uses: leisure centre (Use Class E), hotel (Use Class C1), office floorspace (Use Class E), retail, commercial, healthcare, entertainment floorspace (Use Class E/Sui Generis) and community floorspace (including new library) (Use Class F1/F2). Construction of two transport mobility hubs, associated infrastructure and highway works. Creation of new publicly accessible open space including replacement skate park and associated access, servicing, landscaping and works.
The total amount of non-residential floorspace across the entire development, covering the uses set out within the description of development, shall be no more than 45,072sqm (GIA).
Aldershot Town Centre opportunity
Rushmoor Borough Council has an ambitious multi-million-pound regeneration programme for Aldershot town centre which seeks to create a distinctive, mixed-use centre with a high-quality housing, leisure, cultural, employment and retail offer. Over the next 5-7 years, the two key development opportunities, Union Yard & The Galleries will transform the town, delivering almost 700 new homes, purpose-built student accommodation, flexible high-quality retail, commercial and leisure space, alongside new public spaces in the form of a Makers’ Yard and a new town square.
Local authority: Rushmoor Borough Council
Landowners: Rushmoor Borough Council / Hampshire County Council
Development address: Civic Quarter, Farnborough GU14 7JZ
