Kings Worthy Court: Major scheme for 30 houses proposed

SNG (Sovereign Network Group) has been consulting residents over its plan to demolish Kings Worthy Court and convert Kings Worthy House.

The scheme would see 24 homes replacing the former office building and six flats at the house.

A formal planning application is yet to be submitted to Winchester City Council. The developer held a public consultation on Thursday, December 7 at Jubilee Hall in Kings Worthy. 

On SNG's website, it said: “Our proposals are to deliver 30 homes built to a high standard of energy efficiency, making them more affordable to run and increasing the level of comfort for our customers.

“The overall design of the development will be sympathetic to the surrounding area, including the retention of Kings Worthy House.

READ MORE: Bushfield Camp: More than 800 objections to major development scheme

“Whilst our proposals are not finalised, our initial thoughts include the following.

“Existing access from Court Road will be retained and utilised as vehicular access, with a new pedestrian access proposed from London Road.

“Retention and refurbishment of Kings Worthy House to provide six apartments.

“We will demolish the vacant office block to make way for the construction of 24 highly sustainable new build homes, consisting of two-storey houses, flats, chalet bungalows and associated parking.

“At least 12 (40 per cent) of the homes will be provided as affordable homes - through a mixture of rented and shared ownership homes.

“Mature trees forming part of the former parkland will be managed appropriately to return a sense of a designed landscape alongside wider improvements to on-site biodiversity and provision of open space.

“The large office building at the centre of the site and house that sits alongside it are now outdated and no longer meet modern business needs. The house is also in a poor state of repair and requires significant investment. The current tenants vacated the office building some time ago and are about to leave the house to relocate to new premises elsewhere. The redevelopment of this site presents a rare opportunity to deliver much-needed homes for the people of Kings Worthy and wider Winchester area.”

The Worthy ward councillor Jackie Porter said: “The site has been earmarked for housing for some time, and I'm pleased that Sovereign are committing to affordable homes within the site and that they will be 'tenancy blind'.

“I'm pleased too that there will be a public path through the site, which will open up the site and contribute towards improved pedestrian access for the whole village.

“The plans look good but there are still some glitches: neighbours have some legitimate concerns which need to be addressed before Sovereign seeks permission. But that's exactly the purpose of a pre-application after all - to find out any neighbour and public concerns before the developer applies, so I want Sovereign to address the issues in the final submitted plans.”

Fellow ward councillor Steve Cramoysan said: "It's good that Sovereign is bringing a proposal forward and consulting with local people before submitting a planning application. It's also good that the proposal includes keeping the Queen Anne building which is a part of the character of the area. It's also good that the developer proposes that at least 40 per cent of the houses will be in the affordable homes category. 

"On the other side, clearly some local people have concerns about the scale of the development,  and its impact on the local infrastructure, and on their amenities. There may also be concerns about the impact on ecology and bio-diversity. 

"The developer will have the opportunity to address these concerns before submitting a planning application.  The planning process will kick in which will then make this planning application visible to the public who will be invited to comment. Planning officers will assess these responses and make a recommendation, one way or another. If officers believe it should be refused, the applicant may make changes to try and address the concerns. Finally, when officers are ready with a recommendation, I would anticipate the application will go to the planning committee to endorse the officers' recommendation, or challenge it if they disagree with it."  

For more details about the proposals, visit sovereign.org.uk/kings-worthy-court.