Policy SPS4: Basingstoke Town Centre – Areas of Change

Local Plan Update (Regulation 18)
Closed22 Jan, 2024, 10:00am - 4 Mar, 2024, 11:59pm

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.
6.27 These Areas of Change (as shown on the map below) provide a policy framework for the substantial transformation of the town centre. A key aim is to replace the inward-looking and older parts of the main shopping areas in The Malls and Festival Place with a more traditional street pattern and opportunities for a wide range of new uses including retail, offices, leisure, cultural and residential. New development must significantly improve connections across the town centre, enhance the vitality and viability of the town centre and transform the urban fabric to create a place with its own distinctive and high-quality identity. 

 

Figure 6.2: Plan of Basingstoke Town Centre Areas of Change and Key Routes

 

The Malls

6.28 The area around the railway station, including the Malls, is a key opportunity area for change and the provision of new uses including office, leisure and residential will be encouraged. Providing enhanced connections between the station and the existing shopping areas of Festival Place is a key aim for this Area of Change. The introduction of more traditional street patterns offers the opportunity for Churchill Way to become an outdoor street (without development above it and including active frontages) and the River Loddon to be deculverted and become an attractive feature as part of a wider network of public spaces. Establishing a Transport Hub by the railway station will better integrate rail and bus travel whilst still providing key bus facilities for Festival Place. Where it can be demonstrated that it would be in keeping with its immediate surroundings and not prejudice the character and identity of the town centre, development in this area could be up to 6 storeys and taller buildings may be possible nearer the station.

Church Street

6.29 The Church Street Area of Change offers the opportunity to substantially transform the older parts of Festival Place which look out onto Church Street to provide better connections and a richer mix of uses including retail, offices, cultural and residential. The scale of development in this area will typically be around 4 storeys high in order to protect the setting of the Basingstoke Town Conservation Area along Church Street.

Eastrop

6.30 Development in the Eastrop area could be up to 6 storeys in height where it can be demonstrated that it would be in keeping with its immediate surroundings and not prejudice the character and identity of the town centre. However, there is potential to provide larger scale development in parts of the Area of Change, particularly given its proximity to large-scale buildings such as Skyline Plaza, Churchill Plaza and Matrix House. Development in this area is predicated on an arrangement of buildings which create a coherent pattern of streets and spaces with a high-quality public realm. The scale of development will need to respond to the lower scale of existing residential areas to the east of the town centre and to the south of this Area of Change.
6.31 Development of this area provides an important opportunity to improve connectivity within the town centre, particularly in relation to the connections between the town centre and Basing View. Any redevelopment must provide for such linkages, and the development should be designed so as to reinforce the usability of these links, with buildings fronting onto them and active frontages.

Top of the Town

6.32 Revitalising this historic part of the town centre is a key aim of this Area of Change. Town centre uses supported by housing will be encouraged in order to increase footfall and vitality. Development will be informed by the Basingstoke Town Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan which extends over much of this area. Another key aim of this Area of Change is the creation of a traditional street along New Road.  Any development fronting New Road should have active frontages, creating a sense of enclosure. It should also be typically be up to 3-storeys in height in order to have due regard to the character of the conservation area and its setting. Any development on the southern side of New Road will need to respond to the more traditional streetscape along Southern Road which forms part of the Fairfields Conservation Area and the setting of buildings such as All Saints Church.
6.33 Development and change in this area will focus on public realm improvements including the provision of street trees; improving connectivity such as through the removal of pedestrian underpasses and the enhancement of routes through alleyways; protecting historic frontages; and improving the appearance of other buildings. Provision will be made for specific, segregated cycle routes. 
Implementation and Monitoring

The policy will be implemented through:

  • The determination of planning applications relating to the site.

The policy will be monitored through:

  • Consideration of the extent to which proposals meet the objectives of the policy and Masterplan for Basingstoke Town Centre.

 

Representations

4 representations have raised comments relating to this chapter

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