John Hearn, former Major Developments Officer at Winchester City Council 2009-2015, of Newburgh Street, gives radical ideas on how the city should evolve.

LET’S move the discussion about city movement and city land-use planning to a much higher level.

Reallocating road space with ‘pop-ups’ has put the ‘cart before the horse’. We first must reduce city centre traffic, then we’ll have more space to play with, which we’ll certainly need post pandemic.

Councils should restate their commitment to ‘reduce city centre traffic’. Even though it’s ‘Priority One’ in the 2019 adopted Winchester Movement Strategy, there’s been almost silence on the issue for two years. Instead, we discuss isolated ‘pop-ups’ to give just a bit more space to pedestrians and cyclists yet enough space to ensure traffic keeps flowing.

Our beautiful city is congested, polluted, very noisy and visually degraded with vehicles and traffic paraphernalia. Providing vehicles with space to move freely and space to park is embedded in the traffic planner’s psyche. We need a fresh, approach which puts pedestrians first and cars last. We need signs on the outskirts of the city, “Welcome to historic Winchester, a city for pedestrians.”

Imagine a new city square at the front of Barclays Bank. A space with no tarmac, instead a quality shared surface with trees. No raised pavements, no traffic lights, no traffic signs, no railings, no painted road markings. A space for people to stay, relax and play. Imagine similar spaces at the Broadway and at the Westgate.

Park and Ride on its own has not reduced city centre driving. Why should it when there’s plenty of city road space, city public car parks and even more city private car parks. If motorists were priced out from entering the city, many of the car parks could be redeveloped for housing and other mixed uses (car-free of course). We should impose penalties on city centre employers (and charities) who, for no good reason, continue to provide parking for workers. Also, resident parking permit charges should be increased significantly to encourage dwellers to ditch cars and use more sustainable ways of moving around.

A couple of years ago I and colleagues asked the Town Forum if it would prepare a citywide urban design framework. We were concerned that new developments and public realm proposals were being considered in isolation, with no joined-up thinking. Some of the councillors were supportive but instead the Council commissioned and adopted a City Vision. Its ambitions are laudable and promote increased pedestrian accessibility and greener lifestyles, which align with those of the Movement Strategy. But on their own, ambitions don’t move things forward and don’t provide citywide comprehensive joined-up planning.

We should use the Vision and Movement Strategy as a foundation for a new citywide movement and development framework. It should combine more radical movement proposals, proposals to improve the public realm, the main redevelopment areas (Central Winchester Regeneration, Station Approach, River Park, Sir John Moore Barracks) and a mechanism where developers are required to contribute towards city improvements. It should include 3-dimensional computer generated imagery so that designers, the community and decision makers can understand how proposals fit within the city-whole. It should be flexible to adjust to changing circumstances and be embedded in the local plan.

Surely this is one for the Town Forum to drive forwards. It has a budget, a vested interest and political momentum and understanding. If done well, a citywide movement and development framework could be a pioneering example of how a nationally important historic city will become a place for pedestrians and not for cars.