THE wheels are again turning over the latest attempt to redevelop a large part of Winchester city centre.

The Chronicle reported the city council last Wednesday (December 22) approving an outline business case for the Central Winchester Regeneration, better known as Silver Hill.

Civic chiefs propose a mixed use development of houses, workspace, cultural attractions, open space and a hotel on the lane between Broadway and Friarsgate and the bus station and Middle Brook Street.

The council has been eyeing the area for redevelopment since the late 1980s and two major schemes have collapsed; the first by Thornfield because of the economic downturn in the late noughties and the second by Henderson after a legal challenge by Cllr Kim Gottlieb in 2015-16.

The detailed plans are still years away. The next stage will be drawing up a detailed business case and meeting developers to discuss what the city council, which owns most of the area, wants to see.

Here is a gallery of images from the old plans, that never got developed. Both the major schemes, by Thornfield and Hendersons were highly controversial and both envisaged a lot of shopping space which with hindsight may not have been the best idea. Changing shopping patterns and coronavirus have seen many national chains go under, with cafe and restaurants filling the gap.