A Winchester leisure club and the city council have been privately discussing a major redevelopment of the Cattle Market car park.

The Winchester Club, in Worthy Lane, has been approached by a developer for a scheme to build a new club, hotel, and housing on the wedge of land between Andover Road and Worthy Lane.

The development is bound to be controversial — the site could accommodate hundreds of homes and would mean the loss of a popular car park that provides spaces near the centre but without drivers having to enter the one-way sys¬ tem. Charities would also be unhappy at the loss of the site for their Sunday car boot sales.

Winchester Liberal Democrats are concerned as they want to see a masterplan for the redevelopment of the wider area, including the railway station, Stockbridge Road, Andover Road and Cattle Market areas.

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