Central Car Park Development - Trust Annual Report 1980
One of the more controversial aspects of Winchester's Draft Town Centre Plan was the proposal for a shopping development of the Central Car Park site. The Trust, in its comments on the Plan, showed a dislike of the kind of scheme envisaged and was particularly critical of the planners' assumption that only "a large functional structure" could be contemplated. The Trust considered that there must be many ways of developing the site which would be less damaging to the townscape and the life of the City than a monolithic shopping centre. In particular it was felt that any new development should be of an incremental nature within broad guide lines, rather than rigidly planned.
In order to show the planners that other approaches may be possible the Trust hopes to examine in more detail the theme of incremental planning for this site. One suggested approach is the allocation of fairly small sites around a market square, for development on a piecemeal basis subject to broad planning constraints on use.