Plans for involving the public in a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for central Winchester regeneration were shaped at a workshop held at the Guildhall on Monday 3 October.
The workshop was attended by representatives from Winchester’s business, environmental and architectural communities as well as councillors and the general public.
Key recommendations included:
- Seeking interest from urban design specialists who can help formulate the SPD and carry out public engagement as an integrated process
- Talking to residents, visitors, people already occupying the site, bus-users, young people, people who work in the city and seeking to get representative views
- Considering carefully the business and retail issues
Cllr Victoria Weston, the Deputy Leader of Winchester City Council and chair of the Central Winchester Regeneration Informal Policy Group, said: “We had input from the City of Winchester Trust, the BID and WinACC and excellent suggestions for which groups of society we should talk to as we develop the project.”
The aim is to establish a new vision for redevelopment that will reinvigorate Winchester’s town centre with a mix of commercial, residential and cultural activity and improve local services.
The principle and broad scope of development in this area of the city around the bus station and Friarsgate buildings is set out in the City Council’s Local Plan.
The Council is looking to put detail into the plans, producing by the end of 2017 an SPD which establishes the way in which different uses fit together on the site.
