South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

Have Your Say On Daedalus

SEEDA seeks the public’s views on initial ideas for the redevelopment of the site

23 November 2007

The second of several open public events organised by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to discuss the redevelopment proposals for Daedalus is set to be held at the beginning of December.

SEEDA is holding a ‘Daedalus Exhibition’ on Friday, 7th December 2007, between 12 noon – 8.00pm and Saturday, 8th December 2007, between 9.30am – 12.30pm at the Lee Methodist Church Hall, Lee-on-the-Solent High Street as part of the public consultation process being undertaken to plan for the future of the 82.4 ha (204 acre) site.

The exhibition will provide the public with the first opportunity to see preliminary masterplan ideas for the use of land at Daedalus. These initial plans have been produced as a result of several consultations held earlier this year.

The project team, including the masterplanners appointed by SEEDA, Terence O Rourke, have considered the comments from 5,000 responses received from a SEEDA questionnaire, distributed to the local public in May, as well as from the ‘Daedalus Drop In’ during August. The results from various topic groups, which focused on employment, building design and heritage, leisure, community and tourism facilities, green space and the environment and transport and access to the area have also been incorporated into the initial masterplan ideas.

Members of the project team will be present at the exhibition to talk to visitors and record theirs thoughts and views concerning the development. Following the event, the team will be considering the results of this consultation, alongside the outcome of discussions with the local business community and local councils.

Once the many different perspectives have been considered, the masterplan ideas are likely to evolve further and a favoured approach to the development of the site will begin to emerge. All parties will then be consulted again before a final masterplan is agreed and taken forward to the next stage of the development process.

SEEDA Development Manager for Daedalus, Clare Chester, says: “Following the successful consultation undertaken during the summer, this event will provide the local community with an exciting opportunity to begin visualising what Daedalus could become. Everyone is welcome to come along to find out more about the ideas for development, reach a better understanding of the thought processes behind them and gain an appreciation of why certain land uses are required in order to complement others.”

SEEDA acquired the former HMS Daedalus site in March 2006. Its aim is to create a sustainable, high quality mixed-used development, which respects the site’s exciting heritage and realises the site’s potential to contribute to the economic growth of the local area.

For further information on the Daedalus exhibition please contact Justin Harvey of community consultants Groundwork Solent, on Daedalus Freephone - 0800 077 8439; email - Daedalus Project

Those not able to access the exhibition will be able to view a summary of the masterplan concepts on static displays at four locations in the local area from 11th December to mid-January. The displays can be found at Fareham Library, Gosport Discovery Centre, Lee-on-the-Solent Library and Stubbington Library. Anyone with further queries on the future of Daedalus should visit the user-friendly, interactive website, www.daedalus-seeda.co.uk, produced by SEEDA in order to keep all interested parties informed and updated on its progress, either at home, at work or at their local library.