Costs spiral for new theatre
A NEW theatre in Fareham is under way but it’s going to cost £3m more than expected.
Fareham Borough Council has given the green light to develop a new arts and entertainment venue in a bid to regenerate the town centre.
The centre - called Fareham Live - was estimated to cost £12.57m before rising to £13.35m in late 2020 due to the pandemic inflating construction costs.
The overall budget has risen to £16.69m following bids from tenders early this year - the identity of the approved contractor is not yet known.
Councillor Susan Walker, executive member for leisure and community, said: ‘I think Fareham has always been one of the most forward-thinking councils around here that I can possibly imagine and if you look at this project - it’s going to be the biggest project that we’re going to deliver.
‘We need to do something about our town centre, many of the comments I heard on the doorsteps are that Fareham is no longer a shopping area any more.
‘We need to transform it from the market town it used to be, to the shopping centre that it was to something new in the future.
‘It is a large sum of money but we have to grasp that nettle and we have to deliver it because we’ve made that promise.’
The old Ferneham Hall closed in 2020, and the name of Fareham Live for the new project was adopted in October that year. Other names suggested in a public vote were The Kiln, The Quay and The Tannery.
The plans also include demolishing the ‘decaying’ Osborn Road car park after refurbishment works were ‘no longer considered financially viable’.
A new surface car park costing £1.96m - is now approved for the Osborn site with 120 spaces, down from the current 818 spaces in the multi-storey car park.
Most town-centre car parks have struggled to recover after the pandemic, with Osborn Road averaging only 20 per cent capacity this month.
Both projects will be funded through the council’s community infrastructure levy (CIL) receipts.
Reserves currently stand at £5.9m meaning extra money will be needed to meet the £18.65m combined project cost.