Crunch hearing for Pitt Manor (From Hampshire Chronicle)
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Crunch hearing for Pitt Manor
5:10pm Thursday 24th November 2011 in West Winchester
An artist's impression of the Pitt Manor scheme, which Keep Pitt Green and Winchester City Council are attempting to block, while developers argue that Winchester has an urgent need for new homes
MUCH needed housing or a blot on the landscape – that is what a public inquiry in Winchester will decide.
The hearing into the Pitt Manor scheme for 200 homes and the city’s third park and ride site began on Tuesday (November 22).
Around 50 people came to the opening session as Winchester City Council and developers went head to head.
The local authority rejected the plan earlier this year, citing around a dozen problems with the scheme.
Several were overcome during the summer as both sides held talks behind closed doors, the inquiry heard.
But other issues were not solved, such as potential traffic problems in Romsey Road, which runs alongside the site.
Trevor Ward, representing the council, said it would also harm the area’s appearance and the density of housing would be too high.
“The council says there’s fundamentally a stark contrast in density between the local area and these proposals,” he said.
Many residents living nearby agree, and around 300 objected when the plans were first unveiled.
Several parish, district and county councillors also slated the scheme, joined by Winchester MP Steve Brine.
Residents banded together two years ago to form Keep Pitt Green in order to save the greenfield site.
The land is owned by Gillian Payne, while the scheme’s agents are Southampton-based Turley Associates.
They are being represented at the inquiry by Richard Humphreys QC, who opened his case on Tuesday.
He argued that the new 200-space park and ride scheme would reduce traffic further down Romsey Road.
He added that when the council’s current Local Plan was adopted, the inspector looked at Pitt Manor.
Said Mr Humphreys: “The Local Plan inspector noted, in any event, that the site is ‘especially well screened on all sides and a residential development could, in my view, take place without undue harm to the wider landscape’.”
The council has already named Pitt Manor as a ‘reserve site’ that can be used if housing land dries up elsewhere.
Mr Humphreys said: “The city council does not have a five year supply of deliverable housing.”
In fact, the council is likely to need space for 11,000 homes across the district during the next 20 years.
Of those, 4,000 would be in Winchester itself, figures in the draft strategy set to replace the Local Plan suggest.
Turley Associates has consistently argued that there is not enough housing in the city to meet demand.
The final decision rests with planning inspector, John Braithwaite, who is chairing the inquiry.
It is expected to finish early next week. After which, he will visit the site, and publish his decision several weeks later.
