The ground breaking ceremony for Fareham’s new multi-million pound Holly Hill Leisure Centre took place on June 15th.

Conservative Cllr Seán Woodward is pictured with the Mayor of Fareham, Cllr Mike Ford and Conservative Cllr Trevor Cartwright.

Fareham Borough Council has contracted Balfour Beatty to construct the Leisure Centre on the site of the Coldeast Hospital in Sarisbury Green. When complete in summer 2016, the centre’s facilities will include:

• A 25 metre pool with 6 swimming lanes
• A learner pool
• A gym with at least 100 pieces of equipment
• Exercise room
• Dance studio

When finished, the Leisure Centre will be managed by Everyone Active on behalf of the Council. There will also be two new junior football pitches, a children’s play area and a multi-use games area for people to enjoy on site. The Council’s Countryside Service and volunteers are managing the different natural habitats surrounding the centre.

For further information about this exciting project, please visit: http://www.fareham.gov.uk/hhleisurecentre

Fareham Borough Council has officially taken over control of Fareham Innovation Centre, Daedalus in a ceremonial key handover event.

Colin Crowther, Construction Director at Bouygues UK – the company charged with delivering the new centre – passed the keys to Leader of the Council, Cllr Seán Woodward and The Mayor of Fareham, Cllr David Norris, to symbolise the building being transferred to the Council from the contractors.

During the day councillors and dignitaries received a tour of the £5.3m facility, which contains office space and workshops for new businesses, with a focus on the engineering, aerospace, aviation and marine industries. The project is set to create around 150 new jobs.

Executive Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Cllr Seán Woodward, said: “It’s hugely satisfying to reach this point with construction of the Centre complete and new businesses starting to move in. It is particularly impressive that this building has been delivered so quickly; only 12 months ago we didn’t even own the land on which it was built! The companies based here will benefit from top of the range support and facilities. In addition, the building also boasts strong green credentials, achieving a very good environmental score and having a roof covered in solar panels.”

The Innovation Centre will be managed on behalf of Fareham Borough Council by Oxford Innovation. Oxford Innovation has extensive experience in operating state-of-the-art Innovation Centre facilities. Currently managing a network of 21 centres across the UK, used by over 900 companies, Oxford Innovation aim to provide businesses with a structured and supportive environment where companies can readily access first class business support as well as flexible workspace.