Policy SPS4: Basingstoke Town Centre – Areas of Change

Policy SPS4: Basingstoke Town Centre – Areas of Change

Development proposals within the Areas of Change identified on the Policies Map/Illustrative Plan must support and not prejudice the Masterplan for Basingstoke Town Centre (December 2022), in line with the key principles and criteria set out in Policy SPS3 (Basingstoke Town Centre).

1. The Malls

Development proposals in this area must:

1. Establish a coherent and linked set of streets, including those Key Routes identified in the Policies Map, which improve connectivity between the railway station and Festival Place, Church Street, The Anvil and to Basing View;
2. Enable Churchill Way to be an outdoor street providing enhanced connections between the eastern and western parts of the town centre;
3. Enable the provision of a Transport Hub to integrate rail and bus travel;
4. Include a mix of town centre uses supported by housing with active frontages and with an emphasis on ground floor retail uses on the Key Route connecting the railway station to Festival Place;
5. Provide a network of green spaces, green links, street trees and public open spaces; and
6. Be up to six storeys in height with the potential for taller buildings nearer the station.

2. Church Street

Development proposals in this area must:

1. Enable new streets or new active frontages at ground level, and remove barriers to improve visual and physical connectivity between Church Street northwards towards the railway station, eastwards to Festival Place and to the south to Top of the Town;
2. Protect the historic character of this area by having due regard to the Town Centre Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan with development typically up to four storeys in height;
3. Integrate with the enhancement of the public realm in the town centre including Glebe Gardens;
4. Include a mix of town centre uses supported by housing with active frontages on the ground floor; and
5. Protect Glebe Gardens, including its setting, and provide a network of green spaces, green links, street trees and public open spaces.

3. Eastrop

Development proposals in this area must:

1. Establish a coherent and linked set of streets, including those Key Routes identified in the Policies Map, which improve connectivity between the Festival Place, the railway station and Basing View;
2. Include a mix of town centre uses supported by housing with active frontages on the ground floor;
3. Provide a network of green spaces, green links, street trees and public open spaces with green linkages to Eastrop Park;
4. Respond positively to Eastrop Park with development fronting onto the Park; and 
5. Be up to six storeys in height with a scale and massing which is sympathetic to the existing scale of buildings, including lower scale residential areas to the south. There is potential for taller buildings in the northern part of this Area of Change.

4. Top of the Town

Development proposals in this area must:

1. Be of a scale and appearance which is sympathetic to the historic character of the area and neighbouring development with development up to three storeys in height and have due regard to the Town Centre Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan and, where relevant, to the Fairfields Conservation Area Appraisal;
2. Include a mix of town centre uses supported by housing with active frontages on the ground floor; and
3. Support the creation of a network of pedestrian routes and to improve the pedestrian environment, including the creation of a tree lined street along New Road.