| NEWS |  | | | | EDUCATION | | | | BUSINESS | | | | SPORT | | |
|
|
|
Barton Farm: the cost of future prosperity?
TOUGH decisions about the future of Winchester must be grasped in the near future to ensure the city's prosperity, a packed meeting heard this week.
That means the probable and controversial development of Barton Farm for 2,000 homes, and a similarly contentious Silver Hill scheme in the heart of the city.
Around 250 people attended the Question Time-style Future of Winchester' debate on Tuesday evening, chaired by city MP Mark Oaten.
The Theatre Royal panel almost unanimously supported the development at Barton Farm, which is heading for the High Court this year.
For the first time, a senior Labour figure, its group leader, Cllr Peter Rees, publicly supported the development, pledging he would vote for it.
"I'm totally in favour of Barton Farm. We cannot afford to deny people the opportunity to get a foot on the housing ladder," he told the audience.
The development would provide some 800 affordable homes, nearly halving the current waiting list of 1,700 households.
Fellow panellist Cllr George Beckett, leader of the city council, did not explicitly support Barton Farm as the issue is going to court, but did say that growth and beauty was not incompatible.
"If you are going to provide prosperity and to grow, you have to accept what it costs," he warned.
Winchester panellist Evelyn Thurlby, a top tourism consultant and former chief executive of the Eden Project in Cornwall, said the infrastructure should keep pace with the building of homes at Barton Farm, suggesting amenities like schools, roads and doctors' surgeries should be phased in as the houses are built.
Prof Chris Turner, pro vice-chancellor at the University of Winchester, called for an international design competition to come up with the best scheme for Barton Farm, saying it was time for innovative design.
Thousands of Winchester people have opposed the building of a new estate, the biggest in 30 years, on farmland north of Winchester.
Meanwhile, the regeneration of the area between The Broadway and Friarsgate has also sparked opposition from campaigners who say it is too big.
Thornfield Properties, which has proposed the Silver Hill redevelopment, proposes to build 265 homes, 35 shops, a car park, bus station and GP surgery. A decision by city planners is due on March 27.
Cllr Beckett dashed hopes that the city council would curtail the scheme's size.
He said there was no going back: "If you are going to develop it has to be a scheme like this, otherwise the numbers do not add up," he said.
"The alternative to a scheme like this is no development.
"This has been the most consulted-upon scheme in the city, the developer has attended over 1,000 meetings in the last nine years."
He said neither English Heritage nor the South East Regional design panel had objected to the scheme in letters received recently.
A straw poll of the audience showed a majority believed the Silver Hill scheme was too dominant for the site.
Also on the panel was town forum chairman, Peter Rees, and Graham Evans, managing director of Penyards estate agents, which sponsored the debate.
Mr Evans backed Silver Hill. "We need development," he said.
"There has been a significant decline in the number of visitors, not just numbers, but how little they spend here and how infrequently they return.
"We can build a better city without looking over our shoulder and being too protective of what has been there for centuries before.
"We have to step out of the comfort zone and be more radical."
Mr Evans also spoke up in favour of the current initiative to turn the city centre into a Business Improvement District (BID).
Fellow panellists agreed that, for a small levy on traders, the whole city would benefit from cleaner, safer streets, which would entice more shoppers back into the city centre.
Businesspeople themselves would take control of how, and on what, the additional money raised would be spent on for the benefit of business.
Other issues raised at the debate included limiting the number of residents-only parking permits to a maximum of two per household; the creation of a town council for better local representation; and turning out unnecessary street lights including those at the Bar End park and ride.
4:19pm Thursday 15th March 2007
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Wintonian, Winchester on 3:14pm Fri 16 Mar 07
If the NIMBYs had there way, Winchester would be the exclusive domain of the middle class & those who only choose to live in Winch on the weekends.
If the NIMBYs had there way, Winchester would be the exclusive domain of the middle class & those who only choose to live in Winch on the weekends.
Posted by: Ron, Winchester on 7:29am Sun 18 Mar 07
what will the planners do with the additional traffic from the proposed development? The city frequently comes to a standstill now but add the extra vehicles and it could be a nightmare. If people could park within a reasonable distance of the centre more people would visit Winchester. There are so many parking spaces for disabled drivers & passengers but it must be one of the most wheelchair-unfriendly places around!
Sort existing problems out first, then start considering what to add on! Or shall we look forward to another empty "Brookes"?
what will the planners do with the additional traffic from the proposed development? The city frequently comes to a standstill now but add the extra vehicles and it could be a nightmare. If people could park within a reasonable distance of the centre more people would visit Winchester. There are so many parking spaces for disabled drivers & passengers but it must be one of the most wheelchair-unfriendly places around!
Sort existing problems out first, then start considering what to add on! Or shall we look forward to another empty "Brookes"?
Posted by: Phil on 2:31pm Mon 19 Mar 07
Barton Farm is not the solution to affordable housing in Winchester. The access into the city would be utterly clogged and the residence marooned. The rail network is already bursting at the seams, quite simply the infrastrucutre cannot cope.
Barton Farm is not the solution to affordable housing in Winchester. The access into the city would be utterly clogged and the residence marooned. The rail network is already bursting at the seams, quite simply the infrastrucutre cannot cope.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
