A disused curry house in Fareham is to be given a new lease of life as a child development centre.
The former Tiffins and Thalis Indian restaurant is being stripped out before work starts to transform it into a child development hub which will centralise and future proof children’s community health services across Fareham and Gosport.
We have partnered with Solent NHS Estates and Facilities to deliver the new centre, which will be home to a wide range of children’s services including community paediatrics, speech therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
The centre in West Street will be a second high street health hub for Solent NHS Trust, designed to bring important NHS services into the heart of the local community.
In April 2021, the Trust opened a modern combined facility featuring a sexual health clinic and a children’s therapies centre under the Vue cinema at Eastleigh’s Swan Centre.
Now work on a Fareham hub is under way after planning permission was granted in February 2022. The new centre, which will include 12 clinical rooms and therapy space as well as first floor offices and second floor storage, is expected to open in the spring of 2024.
It will replace children’s services currently being run from different locations across Fareham and Gosport, including Fareham Health Centre, Lee-on-the-Solent Health Centre, Rowner Health Centre and Fareham Community Hospital.
We are aiming for it to be a Net Zero Carbon project, meaning the building would be highly energy efficient and powered from renewable energy sources, with any remaining carbon balance offset.
Mark Young, Associate Director of Estates Transformation, said: “Transforming a three-storey period building into a modern child development centre is a challenge, but will provide high quality space in an ideal location in the heart of Fareham.
“We are looking forward to providing larger, more flexible clinical space for our children’s services colleagues, enabling them to give the best possible treatment and care to their young patients in a building that also furthers our carbon reduction aspirations.”
The project marks the end of a lengthy search for suitable easy-to-access space in the Fareham and Gosport area.
Richard Brown, Operations Director for Physical and Mental Health Child and Family Services, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity which will enable us to expand our community healthcare provision in the Fareham area.
“Many of our patients need to access more than one of our services, so having our teams at a single larger central base is going to be a very positive step forward for everyone.
“We want our new centre to feel safe, welcoming and family-friendly and, where possible, will be working with staff, patients and their families to ensure the centre has the right look and feel.”
The new children’s health hub, on the junction of West Street and Quay Street, is close to public car parks and has excellent public transport links.