SCORES of people gave their views at the second day of a public event discussing fresh plans for the area around Winchester train station.

A consultation on the revived scheme has attracted attracted more than 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 project 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.  

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

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 latest of which took place on Wednesday, September 28 from 2pm to 7pm.

Representatives from Winchester City Council and MPC held a stall by the train station and were speaking to passing residents about the scheme.    

Nikki Davies, managing director at MPC, said: "We've had lots of people coming down to see us. Some saw it advertised through the leaflets and came down specifically while others have just been passing through on their way to the station.

"We're so chuffed with the level of response, it has massively exceeded previous consultations run by the council. It's great people are engaging with this really important topic - it's the entrance to the city and it has the potential to be something quite exciting."

She added: "There's been no limitations set to date, this whole exercise is about getting ideas and finding a way forward that's publicly supported as well as viable and deliverable. Everything is on the table at the minute.

"Having the extra land owner on board in Network Rail is a real plus. It's a kind of holistic view now instead of people trying to do it unilaterally, so it's helpful to have the collaborative approach while looking at options at this stage."

Emma Taylor, project lead for Winchester City Council, said: "I think overwhelmingly people want to see the public realm of the area improved and see it lifted.

"Maintaining the trees and green space has been a common theme, and also finding a way to connect the station better with the city centre. Any scheme has to be deliverable, but it's all about getting a balance between what the majority of stakeholders want and what the sites have the capacity to hold, together with the commercial market analysis for the sites."

She added: "A number of people have come with the expectation that we'd be asking them to comment on a scheme that had already been designed. Obviously that's not the case, we want people engaged right at the outset to help shape the scheme as it grows. That has been well received by people."

Many residents stopped over the course of the two dates to offer their views.  

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.”  

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.”  

Eleanor Bell, former mayor and councillor form Hursley, stopped by at the pop-up on Saturday, September 24. 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.” 

The first round of public consultation closes on October 21. 

It is scheduled to go to the scrutiny committee in December subject to approval, and development of a business case will start in 2023 for submission to Cabinet in Spring or Summer 2024.