Pitt Manor inquiry ends (From Hampshire Chronicle)
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Pitt Manor inquiry ends
3:37pm Tuesday 29th 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
TOO many homes are being proposed at Pitt Manor, a public inquiry heard.
More than 200 would be built there along with Winchester’s third park and ride if developers win their appeal.
The city council has already refused the plan once and aims to derail it again.
Its urban designer John Hearn told the inquiry that the area around Pitt Manor was “green and sylvan”.
Yet the new development would be “dense and enclosed”, he said last Thursday (November 24).
He produced data to show that Pitt Manor would be three times denser in places than the nearby Stanmore estate.
The council also argues that Romsey Road, which is beside the land, cannot handle extra traffic.
Nearby residents have raised similar concerns and are fighting the plans under the Keep Pitt Green banner.
Sandie Vining from the group told the inquiry on Friday (November 25) that they were still unhappy.
She said: “This is not a coherent, well thought out plan and everything keeps changing at the last minute.”
She added that the new park and ride would lead to more traffic heading through Badger Farm nearby.
Many children played on open spaces there, she said, which would make extra traffic dangerous.
“If you physically stand in the place where children will be standing and feel how close you are to traffic you just know there will be an accident there,” she said.
Turley Associates, agents for landowner Gillian Payne, argue that Winchester has an urgent need for housing.
It added that if not enough sites are available then Pitt Manor should be released to meet demand.
The council named it as a ‘reserve site’ for housing several years ago if land supplies dried up.
The authority’s emerging 20-year masterplan has shown there are not enough sites to meet demand for the next five years.
As a result, the document says more land – which could include the likes of Pitt Manor and Barton Farm – must come forward.
Planning inspector John Braithwaite closed the five-day hearing at Winchester Guildhall earlier today (Tuesday, November 29).
He is due to make his ruling on Pitt Manor within a few weeks.
