THE city council is sleepwalking into the same kind of disaster that was Silver Hill.

Its vision for the redevelopment of Station Approach is far too ambitious.

The proposed buildings from Bidder B, reported in this paper in recent weeks, dwarf the County Record Office, itself no shrinking violet, but one that works and fits in with the city.

When local architect Paul Bulkeley, of Snug Architects, suggested a couple of years ago that the Station Approach area could take seven storey offices he was referring to the land off Andover Road, a natural dell. He was not referring to the prominent Station Hill.

The city council organised a design competition that was blighted from the start by its snubbing of a consortium of local architects and then the embarrassing withdrawl of three of the five shortlisted firms.

This really is a key moment for Winchester.

Few people suggest that the city does not need new offices and few would argue that this area could be developed for some landmark buildings; but what is very much in doubt is that it needs anything like this monster.

The city council should water down its financial ambitions, come up with a new design brief and oversee a more suitable scheme. There is still time.

What no-one wants is for a bad scheme such as this to develop momentum and become unstoppable.