HAVANT TOWN CENTRE
Previous plans and studies for the revival of Havant’s historic town centre have come to nothing while hideously inappropriate schemes in a designated conservation area such as 13-storey blocks of flats and change of use of a landmark historic building into a casino have been approved (and since failed) serve only to send out confusing messages about what Havant historic town centre wants to be. It is now proposed to re-draw the town centre boundary and find other uses for East Street with more listed buildings than any other in the borough. This looks suspiciously like an attempt to relegate what is essentially a regeneration challenge to the back burner.
The draft plan fails to specify how East Street (architecturally the finest in the borough) will be developed other than a vague commitment to a new Master Plan. There is little evidence of any consultation over the proposed new boundary with the 20 or more East Street businesses or their customers (including The Spring, the town’s main provider of arts and entertainment) The Meridian Centre does need to be repurposed on its upper floor for leisure activities like a new cinema to help the night time economy and fill the space vacated by the library if and when it moves (where?).
In the Market Parade area, the land at present allocated to car parking should re-designated as a public transport hub that could include the station forecourt area. The story of Havant town centre is that everything is mostly in the wrong place while the council has failed over years to make it an investible proposition for commercial property companies.
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