Liss Village Centre Project

Liss Neighbourhood Plan states that “Much of the centre is within a conservation area. It is an area well used by the local community. However, some of the more recent development within the centre is unattractive and not in keeping with the character of the village. Some of the area of Station Road is cut off by the level crossing from the main part of the centre and is rundown and in need of sympathetic redevelopment. The street scene is poor, with a clutter of posts and signs, some poor pavements and a lack of green planting. Parking for the centre is increasingly difficult with car parks close to capacity. Not all of these problems can be tackled through the development process. The Parish Council is committed to working with the community to enhance the vitality and viability of the centre”. 

At Full Council in February 2021 we approved Liss Village Centre Project Consultants Brief. In addition we have adopted these principles for this project:

Deliverable: what is designed must be deliverable – while proposals can be ambitious – LPC must be confident that relevant authorities (ie Network Rail, Highways England, Hampshire County Council as Highways Authority) will agree to the schemes. 

Ambitious: nothing is off the table. Partners should be ambitious for Liss, seeking to deliver the ambition for a thriving village centre contained in the Neighbourhood Development Plan and design brief, not piecemeal. This isn’t a project about highway improvement – it is about the vibrancy of the village centre (including seeking to design out opportunities for anti-social behaviour)

Owned by the community: Residents and businesses are involved and feel ownership for the proposals, key partners (Network Rail, Local Enterprise Partnership, SDNP, EHDC, Police, HCC, etc) are bought in

Value for money: any delivery partner will have a track record, and can evidence how development of a master plan has leveraged in funding for delivery of infrastructure projects; Liss Parish Council will need to be assured that it is getting value for money for residents

Map showing study area of Liss Village Centre Project (in red):

In May 2022 we commissioned Hampshire Services (Hampshire County Council’s in-house consultancy service) to undertake the Liss Village Centre Project and identify potential improvements to Liss village centre.

The Hampshire Services project team includes specialists in engineering, transport planning, public realm design and landscape design. They have strong experience of delivering transport and place studies.

Hampshire Services are keen to engage with the local community, to make this project a success it is essential the community are able to share their local knowledge and experiences to aid the project teams understanding of what residents want to see improved in the village centre.

Follow this link to view the

Key Outcomes for Phase 1 of Stakeholder Engagements

Together with Hampshire Services we organised a number of community engagement activities including:

Village Centre Walkabout. We invited representatives from Liss groups and organisations to attend a walkabout on either 28th June and 1st July 2022. These were organised to allow the different issues and experiences of Liss village centre at different times of the day during a typical week to be captured - with one in the morning and the other during a school run and commute.

Village Centre Walkabouts allowed residents and representatives to discuss their experiences and help us identify issues and opportunities in the village centre. Information gathered will be an essential part in ensuring project outcomes represent the needs and views of the community.

Village Centre Pop-Up. Held outside Tesco on Saturday 23rd July 2022. Many residents came to talk to us about the project.

Local Businesses Engagement. Businesses in the study area were visited during the summer 2022 and were encouraged to complete a Business Survey. These surveys focus on the individual businesses operations and customer requirements.

Commonplace Survey was hosted online and made open to the public. This was advertised widely on social media and advertising banners and posters in Liss. Paper copies of the survey were made available in the LPC Office and the Post Office Counter. Survey closed on 28th August 2022.

Full report can be read here:

Key issues:

• Respondents rated all aspects of their experience lower than their expectations of the area.
• The issues with the most significant difference between expected and actual ratings were ability to cross easily and ease of finding shade and shelter.
• Feelings of safety from crime and anti-social behaviour had the least significant difference between actual and expected experience, along with cleanliness of the streets.  
• Key findings from each location visited were:

Station Road: Riverside Walk to Lime Close Roundabout

Negative experience of finding places to stop and rest and finding shade and shelter.

Station Road: Lime Close Roundabout to Triangle, Mill Road

Negative experience of finding places to stop and rest and finding shade and shelter.

Hill Brow Road: Newman Collard Car Park to Station Road

Negative experience of finding shade and shelter.

Area around Roundabout

Negative experience of crossing.

Findings: Potential considerations for project implementation:

1. The survey findings indicate that parking is a contentious issue in Liss village centre. Whilst many respondents were positive about the amount of parking available, there were concerns about poor/ illegal parking. Improving and increasing existing parking facilities, particularly in areas where illegal parking is an issue, should be considered.
2. Specific suggestions about pavement widening and crossing points were raised in several areas. These should be considered as plans are developed.
3. Many respondents expressed frustration about the delays caused by the level crossing in Liss village centre. Any proposed changes should endeavour to not exacerbate this issue further. It might be worth considering whether there is scope for future plans which could mitigate against this issue completely.
4. Respondents were positive about both the community feel and the local facilities available in the village. The development of any proposals should include key groups such the Liss in Bloom volunteers and local businesses, to build upon and strengthen these village assets.
5. Some concerns were raised about the appearance of some shop fronts. The project team may wish to work with local businesses to consider how the aesthetics of these could be improved.
6. Concerns were raised about the perceived prevalence of anti-social behaviour exhibited by teenagers/ children, particularly around Liss Rail Station. Engaging with young people to find out how they would like to see their village improved may help to mitigate against this.
7. The demographic profile of Liss should be considered in conjunction with the findings from this report to ensure that no groups’ views have been underrepresented in the research.

Full report can be read here:

Liss Village Centre Project will be developed using the Healthy Streets Approach, which is a human-centred framework for embedding public health in transport and public realm design. It has 10 key indicators that inform planning design:

1. Everyone feels welcome
2. Easy to cross
3. Shade and shelter
4. Places to stop and rest
5. Not too noisy
6. People choose to walk and cycle
7. People feel safe
8. Things to see and do
9. People feel relaxed
10. Clean air