A LEADING architect has broken silence over the Station Approach scheme in Winchester which collapsed in the summer.

Richard Jobson and his firm Design Engine, based in Winchester, were shortlisted in a competition and with London firm Hopkins submitted proposals which were unpopular with the public and rejected by city councillors.

Mr Jobson spoke at the overview and scrutiny committee tasked to see what lessons could be learned.

He blamed the council for a restrictive design brief that was too ambitious over both a profit return and the amount of housing, offices and parking. The scoring criteria of the entries created an "arms race" and the growth in the size of the scheme, encouraged by the council officers, said Mr Jobson.

"The competition started off about offices, where in Winchester you can get £25 per square foot; housing returns £600 per square foot which is why everyone is building houses not offices in Winchester. We ended up putting more housing on the site. The scheme got bigger and bigger because we had to get more housing on site to pay for 800 cars underground," he said.

Mr Jobson added: "I don't think anybody was on top of the reality of the impact of cars on this project. Don't blame us for escalating the number of parking spaces on this site."

He said he felt the area needed a masterplan, a point supported by several members of the public, including several architects.

Steve Tilbury, corporate director, defended the design brief and the way the competition was organised, saying that neither was to blame for the failure of the scheme.

Many city councillors take a different view.

Several public speakers attacked the competition and the report. Chris Higgins branded it a "whitewash" about a "flawed system...the chickens are coming home to roost and that is why it went wrong."

Mr Higgins, a former chief of estates at Winchester University, said architects pulled out of the competition because the system was "intimidating, legally threatening and involved huge amounts of work for little reward."

A report said the council, in the light of the Silver Hill fiasco listened to the advice of lawyers.

Michael Carden, of the City of Winchester Trust, said the fundamental lesson was for the council to listen to the Royal Institute of British Architects rather than lawyers.

John Hearn, a former senior planning officer at the city council and a member of the competition design jury, said he would have recommended both Design Engine's and Hopkins's schemes for refusal because of their visual impact.

Cllr Kim Gottlieb, who voted to derail Station Approach in the summer, said: "We are talking about lessons to be learned but I am not sure from this report what lessons have been learned.

"I think the design brief does need a review. It did not deliver what it set out to do."

Behind the increase in the size of the scheme is the perceived need for more offices in Winchester. Kevin Warren, chief estates officer, said he estimated it at 140,000 square feet and it was probably more.

The committee agreed to pass on concerns to Cabinet about the lack of a masterplan, the need to review the design brief and have better public consultation.