COUNCIL chiefs have refused to commit to backing a campaign to save countryside around a Winchester army base.
Support is growing for 25 hectares of green space around Sir John Moore Barracks to be saved from development to create a nature reserve.
The military training camp is due to be disposed of in 2026, with plans for a mixed-use development currently progressing.
Currently it is not known whether the base will be included in Winchester City Council’s Local Plan, which is due to go out for public consultation later this year.
READ MORE HERE: Disposal of Sir John Moore Barracks, in Winchester, delayed
Despite this, the authority has been urged support a call for the development of the barracks to be limited to the “legitimate central brownfield site inside the security fence”.
Littleton and Harestock Parish councillor and city councillor Patrick Cunningham put the question to the council. He also asked that “full protection is afforded to open spaces of the historic unspoilt and biodiverse countryside of the Northern Fields and to create a Local Nature Reserve for the long-term health benefits and wellbeing of all Winchester residents and especially those on the doorstep of the ever-expanding northern spacial areas such as Kings Barton, The Worthys, Littleton, Harestock, Weeke and Teg Down.”
In response, cabinet member for the built environment Cllr Russell Gordon-Smith said the Local Plan will favour brownfield land but did not commit to the nature reserve campaign.
He said: “We would expect any plans for redevelopment of this site to involve making the best use of the land available. Clearly identifying the extent of previously developed land is an important part of this process but is not the only consideration.”
The DIO has commissioned a landscape sensitivity assessment for the whole of the site. Cllr Gordon-Smith added: “This work has not yet been completed so we would not wish to pre-empt the outcome and what it is going to tell us.”
He added: “We understand that the DIO are now currently considering a range of issues such as the amount and distribution of development across the site, mix of housing and other uses, the potential re-use of buildings, and how the site and areas of open space will be used and accessed by new residents and neighbouring communities.
SEE ALSO: Support grows for nature reserve at Sir John Moore Barracks
“This will involve undertaking a further round of public consultation on a range of different options for the redevelopment of the site following on from the feedback that they have already received.
“As I said at the outset it would not be appropriate for me to start setting out requirements at this point as to how this site should be developed in future in relation to matters such as the location of development or the provision of green areas and open spaces. These are matters we will need to carefully consider when preparing a draft plan which includes an allocation at Sir John Moore Barracks, and in relation to the assessment of any future planning applications.”
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