Peninsula Barracks - Trust Annual Report 1990
Probably the single most important development in Winchester during this century, this continues to occupy a great deal of the Trust's attention.
In May this year a public exhibition was held at the Guildhall of the plans submitted by Arundell House Securities Ltd. for the redevelopment of the Lower Barracks-site. The exhibition only lasted four days, which did not include a weekend, and the Trust felt that many members of the public would not have been able to attend. Accordingly with the cooperation of Arundell House and of Winchester City Council, the Trust arranged for a further public exhibition to be held at the Heritage Centre in July, lasting for nine days. This gave the public as well as the Trust the opportunity to study the plans at leisure, and coincided with the submission by Arundell House of their application to Winchester City Council for planning permission.
The application is of course already the subject of detailed study by City Officers and Councillors, but at the time of writing has not been considered at a meeting of the City's Planning Committee. The reaction of the City therefore is not yet known.
The Trust has strongly objected to the inclusion in the scheme of a large public underground car park. This proposal if adopted would be at the expense of the City (probably in excess of £3 million) and we believe would result in serious traffic congestion. It will be interesting to see whether our views are supported by the findings of the Movement and Access Study referred to below under 'Traffic'.
As regards the scheme in general, the Trust's attitude is not unfavorable. The architect has chosen a somewhat florid idiom and the Trust does not object to this though we feel that some of the buildings are over elaborate and pretentious, and in the comments submitted to the City the Trust has made various criticisms and suggestions on individual buildings. The Trust, however, was surprised to find that the plans are still insufficiently detailed to enable confident judgements to be made and we are concerned that rather too much is being crammed onto the site than it can comfortably accommodate. Nevertheless, from an architectural point of view we feel that, given various alterations, an acceptable scheme can be evolved. The Trust has urged that a fully detailed landscaping scheme should be prepared in advance and has pointed out that a great deal more information is required on pedestrian and bicycle routes, viewing places, etc.
Clearly a good deal more work will be required on this scheme and, given the current state of the property market, progress may well be slow. Vigilance may also be necessary to ensure that economies or even re-sale do not result in a second rate deveiopment.
Meanwhile there is no further news of plans for the Upper Barracks site. However, the Trust welcomes the refurbishing of the splendid Royal Greenjackets Museum, and the relocation, in Short Block, of the Royal Hussars and Gurkha Museums. All are worth a visit as is the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum at Serle's House. Few towns, if any, can boast a comparable display of military memorabilia.