THE new vision for Silver Hill will be formed by the middle of 2017, a meeting heard.

Winchester City Council leader Stephen Godfrey told members of Winchester Town Forum that the committee that will oversee major developments in the city.

He said he is looking forward to helping to shape the future vision for the area in the coming months.

At the forum on Monday Cllr Godfrey, Conservative, said he is hoping to get support from residents and public service providers.

The committee will be led by Silver Hill rebel Kim Gottlieb and is committed to shaping the vision of the site which has been at the centre of a long-running planning battle.

As reported in the Chronicle the Silver Hill project has gone back to square one after TH Real Estate were axed earlier this year.

The £150 million scheme which evolved from the late 1990s onwards was challenged in the High Court by Conservative councillor Kim Gottlieb.

The rebel won which derailed the scheme and led to a scathing report by Clare Lloyd Jones into how the council operates.

Chief executive Simon Eden has since announced he is standing down although denies it is related to the Silver Hill debacle.

Cllr Godfrey is aiming for a fresh start that will see a stronger measure of public support.

The THRE scheme was heavily criticised for being too large for the location.

He said: “We hope it will give us the opportunity to properly start again an appropriate development for the centre of Winchester including Middle Brook Street and the rest of the Silver Hill site.”

Cllr Jamie Scott, Liberal Democrat, called for traffic to be looked at in the city as part of the planning document.

Cllr Godfrey said the council will be commissioning a transport review before 2017, with a special focus on Station Approach.

Cllr Ian Tait, Conservative, asked how long will the process take in terms of engagement with stakeholders.

Cllr Godfrey answered: “One of the key tasks of the group is to set out engagement approach and engagement strategy in order to develop something that is accepted.

“Success will be that the council adopt the result of the supplementary planning document, how we use that supplementary document is then judged on whether members of the public like what is built as a result.”

The group is cross party and will include Conservatives Rose Burns, Kim Gottlieb, Guy Ashton and Mike Read, the Liberal Democrats involved are Liz Hutchison, Nicki Elks and Richard Izard.

Praising the group, Cllr Eileen Berry described the councillors on the group as “strong characters”, and said she is glad it is being treated as vision rather than a master plan.

Meetings of the start and finish group will be held in public. with minutes being taken and recommendations being given to cabinet.