SILVER Hill should be the beating heart of Winchester, an area which gives locals and visitors another reason to enjoy this great city.

Instead it continues to decay, with a doctors’ surgery and major car park among the public facilities hurt by years of legal dispute, questionable decisions and bad luck.

It appears figures at the top of Winchester City Council are talking more seriously than ever about abandoning TH Real Estate, their development partner for the past five years.

Perhaps they hope that calling the developer’s bluff will focus their minds and get the scheme secured before a final decision to terminate needs to be taken.

Perhaps solicitor Claer Lloyd-Jones – who has handed a draft of her long-awaited Silver Hill report to council bosses – will criticise their approach so heavily that a fresh start is the only politically viable option.

Either way, it is likely that the area will rot further before anything is done – and Winchester will change in that time.

We report this week that the restaurant boom is squeezing other parts of the economy.

This is not the same city as when Silver Hill was drawn up, especially not for shopping. If starting again gives the council fresh eyes then that opportunity must be seized, quickly.