A NEW effort is being made to kickstart the stalled Station Approach scheme in Winchester.

Cllr Kim Gottlieb has submitted a report to the council leader with ideas for the £150 million redevelopment of the area near the railway station.

The council scheme was derailed last year when the City of Winchester Trust took legal action in the High Court to point out the city council had acted unlawfully, a charge it accepted.

Now Cllr Gottlieb, whose legal action scuppered the Silver Hill scheme in 2016, has proposed major changes with a more mixed scheme, less office space and more homes, possibly a hotel, and shops and restaurants.

Himself a London property developer, Cllr Gottlieb argued for a scheme with office space down from 150,000 square feet to an initial plan of around 25,000 square feet, with more if that is successfully let.

In his report Cllr Gottlieb said: “The chief problem with the previous scheme, comprising a net area of offices of 150,000 square feet, aside from the townscape and conservation issue, was that it was very, very unlikely that it would be built on a speculative basis or that a sufficient volume of pre-letting could be achieved so as to make it fundable.”

In the Chronicle letters page last week Mark Mills-Goodlet, a director of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said Winchester ran the risk of losing business to Southampton and Basingstoke unless it developed more offices. “The Station Approach development is crucial for the future prosperity of the city. We have seen a decade of indecision and arguments which has led to an enormous amount of wasted public funds,” he wrote.

Cllr Gottlieb said: “The evidence of demand for office accommodation is all anecdotal. For years I have asked for hard data to confirm the volume of investment-quality tenants prepared to commit to a given rent and lease term."

Cllr Gottlieb added: “I’ve heard names mentioned but have never seen any evidence of tenant commitment. The city council’s advisors say that to make the scheme viable, tenants would have to pay £35 per square foot at a time when there’s plenty of space in Basingstoke and Southampton, and Winchester, at £25 per square foot or less. If the Chamber of Commerce or the BID has evidence of tenants prepared to pay £35 it would be good to see it.

“Whatever process the council pursues, it has to act lawfully. It again failed to do so because it was blind to its conflict of interests as landowner and planning authority, and because it still lacks development skills. When we enter a post-Covid19 world where the office market will be who knows where, the council’s shortcomings will need to be radically addressed if it is ever to make a success of this or any other major development project.”

Cllr Gottlieb believes s smaller scheme of 25,000 square feet of offices could be done by the council itself without needing outside investment.

His scheme would be much lower than the previous scheme; mainly four stories but only three stories along Gladstone Street with the building set back from the road. In places the scheme could be up to five stories. The bulk of the previous scheme was the single biggest reason it was strongly opposed.

Cllr Gottlieb, who founded the Winchester Deserves Better campaign in 2015, also wants to preserve the 40 trees planted near the Record Office as well as the Registry Office, the former South Western pub.

Public support will be important. “Given the history of the site there is even greater obligation upon the city council to secure the support of the the majority of the public for the project.”

The council leader Lucille Thompson, was asked about Cllr Gottlieb's proposals, in a statement, said: “While we very much regret that the city council has not been able to make progress on the Carfax scheme (Station Approach), the economic situation is changing rapidly.  The Government’s Office for Budget Responsibility is warning of a major shock to the economy and public finances.  We’re already thinking about how to help our area’s economy recover and how to make sure Winchester remains a good place to do business.”