Major developments

Central Winchester Regeneration

August 2022 - Last January, Winchester City Council decided to proceed with a procurement process for the selection of a single development partner. In March a procurement brochure was produced by the Council and their consultants, Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), inviting developers to express their interest. It is not known if other information was provided at this stage.

On the basis of the information in the brochure, the Trust is concerned at the lack of a comprehensive brief covering the extensive planning issues that need to be considered for the regeneration of the Central Area (formerly known as Silver Hill).

The Local Plan Part II was adopted by the Council in 2017. Policy WIN 4 – Silver Hill mixed use site set out proposals and principles for a comprehensive mixed use development covering uses, design, historic context, public realm, pedestrian and cycle access, landscape, buses, coaches, traffic, car parking, archaeology and flood risk.

John Thompson and Partners (JTP) prepared a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the area, following extensive public consultation, which complied with policy WIN 4, and was adopted in 2018.

The procurement brochure makes no mention of WIN 4, and excludes mention of many aspects of the SPD. The site area has been reduced from 4.5 hectares to 3.67 acres (1.48 hectares) by omitting the bus hub located at the Middle Brook Street car park, St. Clements Surgery and the Woolstaplers Hall, the public realm, Lower High Street and The Broadway. This indicates a reduced vision for regenerating the area to that set out in the SPD. Other omissions include the responsibilities of a developer partner for the historic context, archaeology, public realm and sustainability.

It is understood that the Council has drawn up a short list of three candidate developers. The Trust will continue to monitor this selection process and the basis on which development is to take place.

Station Approach

As a result of legal action initiated by the Trust, Winchester City Council agreed to the quashing of the outline planning permission granted for the Station Approach development on 12th September 2019.

After the outline consent was granted, the Trust took legal advice about the possibility of a legal challenge to the consent.  As a result of that advice, the Trust sent a Pre-Action Protocol letter to the Council, together with grounds for the challenge prepared by a QC, giving notice of its intention to apply to the High Court for leave to Judicially Review the Planning Committee’s decision.

To its credit the Council quickly accepted that there were flaws in the planning process and that the permission should be quashed. 

Click here for the Trust’s press statement.

The City Council’s outline planning application for the redevelopment of the area around Winchester’s railway station was for a development with buildings up to 5 storeys above ground, office space, so-called mixed uses (such as retail, restaurant/cafe, bar and leisure) and up to 135 car parking spaces. The old registry office was to be retained and refurbished.

The overarching problem with the application in the Trust’s view was that too much was being demanded of the site, leaving the architects with the impossible task of trying to meet these demands while also producing buildings which will fit the context. We saw no financial justification for the considerable increase in the number of square metres of office space planned over that which set out in previous WCC development/ design briefs, some of which covered both this site and the Cattle Market site.

The Trust identified problems with the following aspects of the scheme:

1. The number of car parking spaces

2. The scale of the buildings and their impact on the area

3. The appropriateness/overall impression as an important gateway to Winchester

4. Plans for pedestrian routes, cycle provision and public realm (including removal of trees)

5. The management of traffic flow in the station forecourt and surrounding streets

6. Process.

Click here to read our objection in full.

Update - Following the quashing of planning permission in 2019, productive meetings between the Trust and City Councillors took place where we offered our help in producing an urban design framework. The Council agreed this would lead to greater community/stakeholder engagement and agreement but said it did not have the resources, even with our assistance. The project was then paused by the City Council as a result of the Covid pandemic.

It has been accepted by all that the pandemic fallout will inevitably result in a different design approach for the area, given the impact on work practices and travel patterns. Also, with the emphasis on sustainable development, underpinned by the adopted Movement Strategy, there will need to be changes to the types and amounts of development, with a focus on more creativity in townscape design, design of public spaces and movement patterns.

Things have obviously been going on behind the scenes, as most recently the Cabinet has approved a process to “revise the Station Approach plan working with adjacent landowners and embarking on a comprehensive and active engagement with the community”. The Council launched a public consultation which was open for comments until 23rd October 2022, and a website, winchesterstationapproach.co.uk. The Trust has responded to the consultation - you can read our response by clicking here.

The website includes a plan of the study which shows development opportunities on railway carpark land. Unfortunately, important areas of the public realm have been excluded from the study area (Carfax Junction, Sussex Street, Andover Road, Worthy Lane, part of Gladstone Street). The Trust has met the Council to discuss the process ahead and we raised this and other matters.

As reported in the June issue of TrustNews, one important development to note is that the HCC Record Office has recently been listed by Historic England. This will be a significant constraint (and opportunity) in the design development of the Carfax site and the adjacent public realm. The Council has a duty to ensure that the setting of the building is respected.