Winchester City Council’s public consultation on the future of the Bar End Depot site received a tentative response from attending residents.

Civic chiefs invited members of the community to the reception of Winchester Sports and Leisure Park between 3pm and 7.30pm yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, March 8) to discuss possible uses for the land off Bar End Road.

A “steady stream” of people attended the consultation and were greeted by council representatives, including Councillor Kelsie Learney, cabinet member for housing and asset management, who helped showcase provisional ideas for the potential boundaries and scope of the site.

Representatives from Hobbs Rehabilitation were also present, which has expressed an interest in turning one third of the site into a neurological rehabilitation centre offering therapies for people with neurological conditions.

However, while the proposals for Hobbs received a wholly positive response, residents were left wanting by the rest of the display.

One comment left on the noticeboard by an attendee said: “It would be nice to see other potential companies interested in the site in addition to Hobbs, but the information provided is good.”

Another said: “If other have shown an interest in the site, who are they? Are you going to hold one of these events for each of them?”

Francis Porteous, 26, lives on the neighbouring housing estate. He said: “It seems quite early days, it looks as if they’ve just set out the boundaries and outlined the scope of the project. I was hoping for more of a definitive list at this point, but I suppose I can’t blame them if it hasn’t gone to the market yet. When I heard people complaining about the lack of community engagement, I’d thought they would be further ahead, but seeing what they’ve put out today I’m not so bothered about the lack of consultation up until now.

“The framework which they’ve lined out seems pretty well intentioned and I’m happy with that. My biggest concern is that it’ll be turned into a car park or a giant office block or something, but it seems as if they’re trying to rule stuff like that out. I’m quite happy with things like the Hobbs Rehabilitation centre, it’s a nice idea which could be good for the community.

“It would be nice to see something environmental here, a nice open green space, or I’d even some shops or bars to really try and convert this area into being less residential and more of a secondary high-street to grow Winchester city centre. It would be good to have a later consultation to see the full list of who has shown an interest and who has been ruled out.”

Other feedback from residents included things such as the desire to retain the wall which divides the housing estate and the site, providing privacy for the houses, while a through route for pedestrians and cyclists was also suggested.

Speaking at the event, Kelsie Learney said: “There has been a steady stream of people coming through which is good. We need to have a good look at the full feedback, we have done a lot of consultations and we know a shop is really important, we know people want a route through from Highcliffe through to the leisure centre without having to go on the main road, and there’s also a demand for some housing on the site. We’ll have a look at what comes through and go from there.

“People have been really keen on the proposals for Hobbs Rehabilitation, they think it’s a really good use of part of the site and we think it’s a good fit, too, especially given the facilities we’ve got here such as the hydrotherapy pool, some of which they’re already using.”

Helen Hobbs of Hobbs Rehabilitation said: “We’ve been talking to Winchester City Council probably for around five years about the potential to be on this site. Our first centre was in Winchester when we started in 2004 with two or three of us, and we’ve since grown into having over 10 centres in the UK with around 100 employees. We have always developed specialist services but haven’t ever had anywhere to develop a proper, purpose-built centre.

“This site is central to all our other work, but also it’s located right next door to the hydrotherapy pool which is a massive asset for us. The opportunities to develop sport for the disabled is also a huge bonus. But above that, we’re part of the Winchester community and we really want to be more integrated into the community.”