New park and ride car park in Winchester completed

The former Vaultex site on Barfield Close has been transformed into a 15-metre tall, three-storey car park for 287 cars.

An opening date is unclear as the developer, the city council, is unavailable for comment over the Christmas holiday.

Planning permission was initially granted last April before a legal challenge from residents living on Domum Road close to the Vaultex site. That could overturn the planning approval but the city council revised the scheme, reducing its size from 300 spaces to 287, and submitted a second application approved in October, despite some 100 objections. The judicial review in the High Street only concerns the first application.

The completed multi-storey car park at Bar End

Park and ride on the edge of the city is a key part of the Winchester Movement Strategy. There are park and ride sites on the south-west and south-east of the city but none currently to the north. CALA Homes must provide a small site as part of the Kings Barton development and the city and county councils are also looking at part of the Sir John Moore Barracks at Littleton. The Ministry of Defence recently announced a delay to its departure from the site, with a new date of 2026.

Cllr Martin Tod, Cabinet member for economic recovery, told the planning committee in October that the new car park would help reduce traffic in the city centre and create opportunity for improvements for cyclists and pedestrians.

READ MORE HERE: Second plan for park and ride site is approved