PLANS to totally revamp the area around Winchester train station have attracted nearly 1,000 comments weeks after a public consultation was launched.  

Winchester City Council has once again said it would like to overhaul the Station Approach area of the city with a scheme that is estimated to cost £150m - and it has drafted in communications agency MPC to collate residents’ opinions.  

The area, which covers land near the railway station, from Station Road to Sussex Street and between Station Hill and Gladstone Street, known as the Carfax site, has been subject to years of debate.  

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Various schemes have failed to get off the ground. The last plan was paused in 2019 – and now has to be changed considerable due to the effects of the pandemic on the economy, employment and housing need.  

READ MORE: Winchester city council restarts £150m Station Approach scheme

In 2021, Winchester City Council was approached by London & Continental Railway Property, a regeneration company that is working with Network Rail to look at sites in the vicinity of railway stations that could benefit from regeneration. 

This prompted Winchester City Council to restart the scheme.  

A website was set up with an online survey, hundreds of people in the city received postal surveys and two dates were set for public exhibitions – the first of which took place on Saturday, September 24.  

Representatives from Winchester City Council, London & Continental Railway Property and MPC held a stall on the market and were speaking to passing residents about the scheme.  

Emma Taylor, project lead at Winchester City Council, said: “From the website alone we have had more than 450 responses and we have received a similar number by post. It is great that people want to have a conversation and get involved. A lot of people want to see the whole area uplifted.  

“A lot of people think that we have got designs to show them – and then they are pleased to see they have been consulted before we have got to that stage and before anything has been decided.”  

SEE ALSO: City centre cafe to close for refurbishment and will reopen with a new name

Joseph Baum, senior account director at MPC, said: “There have been so many people come to see us today, it has been great, and so many of them have been on to the website already. It has gone down really well that we are consulting now, as a first approach.”  

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Many residents stopped by the stall on Saturday to offer their views.  

Gordon Lockhart, from Kings Worthy, said he felt they had missed a trick when building nearby student accommodation to introduce some green areas to the city centre.  

He said: “My concern is that there’s a lot of hard surfaces. It would have been lovely if they could have opened it up and provided softer areas.”  

Alex Cohen, from Winchester, agreed. He said: “It is in need of redevelopment but what I have said in my comments is that there are areas like those along the Elizabeth Line in Canary Wharf, where they have brought in park areas and green paths, that would be nice to see here instead of a creating a concrete jungle.”  

Maurice McDonagh, who lives in Cathedral View and runs a business in the city, said he was pleased to see the plans being reinvigorated.  

He said: “It is in need of more facilities and there is a need for more accommodation in the city, so it is the ideal place, but it could work out to be quite pricey there.”  

Eleanor Bell, former mayor and councillor form Hursley, stopped by on Saturday. She also welcomed the plan being brought back to life after she was involved in the previous two schemes.  

She said: “I was happy with the second design which had offices, car park, café and outlets, with the accommodation on the cattlemarket site. I think they should do something with the area. It is just as well that we start again.”  

A further consultation event will be held at Winchester railway station on September 28, from 2pm until 7pm.  

The first round of public consultation closes on October 21. 

It is scheduled to go to the scrutiny committee in December, subject to approval masterplanning and development of a business xase will start in 2023.