THE regeneration of Silver Hill has hung over Winchester for nearly two decades. Even this affluent city, rich in architects, civil servants and lawyers, has struggled to come to terms with a project wrapped in complex law and fierce public feeling.

It was first touted in the mid-1990s, when bus operator Stagecoach struck an agreement for a new station. Winchester City Council saw it as an opportunity to reinvigorate a run-down quarter of the city centre.

The council settled on co-developer Thornfield Properties in 2001, whose expanded proposals included shops, a multi-storey car park and 100 homes. In 2003, the Lib Dem-led Guildhall entered an 'exclusivity agreement' with Thornfield, locking other developers out of the scheme. This would be ruled unlawful more than a decade later but could not be challenged.

Public awareness of the project grew in the mid-2000s as rival landowner London & Henley launched alternative proposals and resisted compulsory purchase.

Planning permission was granted in 2009 for a £150 million scheme including 287 homes, 95,000 sq ft of shops, a new car park and bus station. However, the scheme was thrown into question the following year as the credit crunch claimed Thornfield. The developer folded, and was replaced two years later by Henderson Global Investors.

Henderson carried the scheme through a lengthy public inquiry over Compulsory Purchase Orders, approved by the government in 2013. Then, in August last year, it sparked outrage by proposing to replace the bus station and all 100 affordable flats with 60 per cent more shopping space.

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More than 1,000 residents (above) marched on the Guildhall in November to protest the council's development record and alleged lack of consultation. Henderson's 2014 changes were approved by the planning committee in December as business leaders warned delay would see Winchester lose out to rival shopping cities.

But city councillor Kim Gottlieb, the property developer fiercely opposed to the scheme, used his industry knowledge and considerable financial clout to take civic chiefs to task. He surprised councillors by winning the right to a judicial review and shocked the city when it fell in his favour, with the High Court judge ruling in February that the council unlawfully allowed Henderson's changes without taking the scheme to tender.

The 2014 plans were out, and Tory council leader Rob Humby, deputy Vicki Weston and scrutiny chief Chris Pines soon followed in a dramatic week of resignations.

Henderson, rebranded TH Real Estate after a takeover deal, responded by reviving the 2009 scheme, including the bus station and affordable housing. Those plans still stand, but raised eyebrows because the developer had been calling them unviable as recently as the judicial review hearing in January.

Silver Hill's long, difficult history is being reviewed by solicitor and housing expert Claer Lloyd-Jones, commissioned in the wake of the High Court ruling to report on the council's handling of the scheme.

Her report is due in September, only a few months before the developer hopes to be on site. If she finds the scheme or the council wanting, it may be too late.