Waterlooville town centre regeneration

This article captures the ambition to transform a once-bustling high street. Named after the famous Waterloo battle of 1815, Waterlooville is a town just a few miles northeast of Portsmouth. Once a rural settlement, the town experienced rapid growth and development in the post-war years, with a number of overspill housing estates built around its outskirts.

Between 1951 and 1971, its population surged from 2,881 to 10,000—the highest growth rate of any town in Britain during that period. This dramatic expansion necessitated the creation of new civic buildings and amenities, including two shopping precincts—the Boulevard and Wellington Way. Today, however, the town’s streets are deserted, with many boarded-up shop fronts and a prevalence of charity and betting shops. This paints an all too familiar picture of the UK’s diminishing high street. To address declining footfall caused by shifting shopping habits and the rise of online retail, Havant Borough Council launched its Waterlooville Town Centre Regeneration Scheme as part of wider Regeneration and Economy Strategy.

Following an open competition process, urban design and planning practice Feria Urbanism was appointed by Havant Borough Council in October 2023 to deliver a regeneration and implementation framework for Waterlooville town centre. Founded by Richard Eastham, the practice has a strong track record in community engagement and local development frameworks.

Outlining key growth areas, development opportunities and related strategies to boost the local economy while improving the town centre’s civic environment, the requirement was for a master plan which ensured public engagement throughout the process.

Working alongside the council, Feria Urbanism assembled a multidisciplinary team with expertise in urban planning, landscape design and socioeconomic analysis, which included Støriie, Architecture PLB, Deacon Design, Gillings Planning, Propernomics, Medhursts Commercial Surveyors and Beyond Carbon.

With its tired appearance, regeneration sites such as Waterlooville town centre often become open invitations for a complete overhaul. Feria Urbanism was conscious of adopting a more sensitive approach, noting more positive aspects of the town centre worth celebrating, such as its modernist church and generous pedestrian zones.

To begin this exploration, a series of 27 walking tours between November and December 2023 took place. These tours, led by community members with intimate knowledge of the area, revealed a number of surprising stories. Participants revealed that a much loved local cinema was demolished in 2013 to make way for a car park and spoke of childhood memories spent climbing the old cannon installed in the pedestrian zone while their parents shopped.

The walking tours were tracked via GPS to create a digital map that formed the basis for virtual tours conducted over Zoom and led participants around the town centre in real-time. The interactive sessions incorporated observations using Google Maps, proving to be an effective digital alternative for those unable to attend in-person due to time limitations or restricted mobility issues.

Inclusivity was a central commitment of the project, which took an intergenerational approach to stakeholder engagement. Children from four local schools participated in workshops to envision a better town centre. Two older groups, including one from the Purbrook Women’s Institute, contributed by sharing memories of the town while expressing aspirations for future generations.

The feedback results highlighted diverse needs, emphasising environmental and social sustainability: 44% prioritised greenery, 37% sought cleanliness and 32% wanted enhanced leisure and recreational facilities. These findings also highlight a shift in perception about what a contemporary town centre should look like.

A key highlight of the engagement programme was the week-long Festival of Ideas, held in January 2024, comprising a series of co-creative sessions designed to shape the spatial strategy for Waterlooville town centre.

The first day featured presentations summarising insights from the walking tours, followed by a modelmaking workshop inviting children to envision various architectural interventions across key development sites.

Activities expanded throughout the week into the public realm, with a full-scale, 1:1 installation using foam blocks, washable paint and trees to bring designs to life. The final day included expert talks on climate resilience, green infrastructure and urban mobility. The day culminated in a car parking strategy and draft headings that will be used in the Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The professional team used the ideas gathered to develop a responsive series of proposals. Just seven weeks after the festival, a three-day gallery and exhibition to showcase the proposed interventions and invite public feedback was organised.

Richard Eastham of Feria Urbanism recalls: “We made a point of sharing as much information with the public as possible and they really responded to it.”

Set to be adopted as a formal SPD, the urban design framework will provide Havant Borough Council with a clear strategy to attract investment while demonstrating to the public that their input has positively shaped local development.

While town centres were once the solid bedrock of a community, their current deserted and declining state does not represent and support the community the way they should going forward. It is heartening to see that Havant Borough Council, Feria Urbanism and its collaborators have challenged this narrative. By turning the tide of public despondency into empowerment through an inclusive platform, they are demystifying the planning process and encouraging a different, more positive way of looking at their town.

Ultimately, Waterlooville stands as an exemplary exercise in care, pride and renewed civic optimism delivered through an engaged, community-focused design process.

The launch of the council’s vacant shop scheme in 2023, and pop-up shop offer in 2025 proves that focusing on businesses and activities to revitalise the town centre is beneficial for all.