Crunch meeting to debate city's future (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Crunch meeting to debate city's future

8:00am Thursday 20th October 2011 in North Winchester By Warwick Payne

A SPECIAL public meeting will be held in Winchester next week to decide if, and how, the city should expand.

The Theatre Royal in Jewry Street will stage the event, following the recent refusal of 2,000 new homes at Barton Farm.

Winchester City Council has a deadline of April 2012 to publish its final plan for development in the district.

It could include 11,000 new homes over the next 20 years, including 4,000 in the city itself.

Before sending the final plan to Westminster, the city council wants more feedback from residents.

Council leader Cllr George Beckett announced the special meeting to his cabinet colleagues last week. It will be independently chaired by Prof Khalid Aziz, and include Cllr Beckett and Cllr Brian Collin, who chairs the Town Forum, among the panel.

At the same cabinet meeting, members were asked to respond to the Government’s new planning rules.

Westminster says it wants to reduce red tape and give local planners more power.

However, concerns have been raised that it will instead give developers more freedom to build on greenfield sites.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England’s Hampshire branch warned last week that such sites could be left “defenceless”.

That is, unless, council chiefs submit a watertight district plan before April 2012, the group said.

In the meantime, cabinet members had to agree their response to Westminster’s new planning rules.

Corporate director Steve Tilbury said the word “sustainable” featured heavily in Government proposals, but it was unclear what that meant.

“What is more sustainable — new housing, or providing agricultural land? It doesn’t make it clear,” he said.

Cllr Robert Hutchison, Lib Dem, told the Tory cabinet that agreeing what “sustainable” meant was vital.

“The way this is interpreted will have a major effect on our children and our children’s children,” he said.

The cabinet voted to send back a list of concerns about the new rules.

They include making the “sustainable” point clearer and scrapping calls to identify 20 per cent more housing land than needed.

They also called for protection of employment land and for brownfield sites to be developed before greenfield ones.

Several Winchester greenfield sites are being targeted by developers, including Pitt Manor off Romsey Road.

It could provide the city’s third park and ride site along with 200 homes.

However, 10 times that many could be built, along with a new primary school, if Barton Farm goes ahead.

Communities minister Eric Pickles blocked it last month, arguing that its future should be decided locally.

Whether Barton Farm should be developed is likely to be amongst the issues in the looming district plan.

Prof Chris Turner, the executive director of the Winchester Improvement District (BID), said: “Clearly there is a need to identify where new homes should be located (following the Barton Farm decision), and it is imperative that alternative locations are identified speedily.

“One option that has already been suggested is that car-parking space in Winchester can be used for this new housing; clearly the BID is keen that such a solution is not adopted.”

The meeting will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday, October 27, at the Theatre Royal. Places are free but must be booked in advance at the box office on 01962 840440.

Questions must also be tabled in advance with the city council by emailing cveal@winchester.gov.uk or calling 01962 848438.