Landscape - Trust Annual Report 1993
Subjects as diverse as the colour of lamp-posts, the health of the City's trees, the impact of traffic calming measures on ancient streets and the future of the Bar End area have been but some of the matters deliberated on by the Landscape Committee during 1993.
The regular weekly work of monitoring Planning Applications, and commenting on them where appropriate, has gone on and has resulted in a number of cases of permission to fell fine trees being refused, and developers being required to give greater consideration to the landscape design of their schemes. Two examples of these are the housing proposals on the King's School site and on the former playing fields at Airlie Road.
Unfortunately every year sees disease or age claim one or more of Winchester's best trees. A magnificent chestnut in the gardens of the Royal Hotel had to be felled this spring, and as this report is being written the fate of the magnificent copper beech in Eastgate Street, which has been an important feature of the City's townscape for a great many years, hangs in the balance.
Careless damage to the roots of a fine lime in The Weirs during the carrying out of paving works could have resulted in the death of the tree if action by a member of the Landscape Committee had not led to work being stopped. Equally, careless damage to the bark of the splendid sycamore behind the Southgate Hotel may yet result in its loss.
In order to assist the Committee in its work, and to help all those involved in maintaining the health of trees in Winchester, the Committee has embarked on a survey of all trees within the line of the walled perimeter of the historic City. The species, size and state of health of each tree is being recorded, and an assessment made of its environmental value. This survey is a considerable undertaking, but work has begun with much enthusiasm.
It was anticipated that 1993 would see the continuation of the considerable programme of paving improvement and traffic calming schemes drawn attention to in last year's report, but delays have occurred in the design of the scheme for Middle Brook Street, and sadly the scope of the hoped for major improvement to Sussex Street has been progressively reduced to little more than the completion of the site works around the new Record Office.
To date only the traffic calming and repaving in Parchment Street has gone ahead, with results which amply justify many of the misgivings that the Committee expressed about it when it was first proposed.
The laying of patches of studded red concrete paving in the City's pavements to aid the partially sighted in locating crossing places, whilst obviously entirely laudable in intent has left much to be desired as far as appearance is concerned.
The Committee was disappointed to discover that a new and unsightly chain-link fence on concrete posts running for many yards around the corner of Chilbolton Avenue and Romsey Road had been erected with City Council permission. Another fence of orange stained wooden panels in St George's Street was removed after a member of the Committee drew attention to its recent erection.
The Council of the Trust, having declared its opposition to the application by Tesco to build a supermarket at Bar End, asked the Committee to prepare a statement of its hopes and fears for this currently shabby area of the City which will become the major gateway to the City from the M3.
The document which resulted made out a case for the whole area of the land left between the edge of the built-up area and the completed M3 to be considered first and foremost as recreational parkland across which the Bar End Road would run as a green avenue, with all Park and Ride provisions tucked away inside the former Bypass.
Stretching from Magdalen Hill in the north to the old road to Twyford in the south, it would embrace playing fields, attractive waterways, extensive meadows, play and picnic areas, varied wildlife habitats and also the whole of St Catherine's Hill. This concept has not so far elicited a response from the City Council due to the need to concentrate all efforts on opposing the Tesco supermarket application. On the result of this everything in the Bar End area vitally depends.