Local Government Review - Trust Annual Report 1995
The Trust continued its support for the 2-tier system which keeps the Hampshire County Council and the Winchester District Council. The Trust did not express an opinion as to whether Portsmouth and Southampton should go their own way as Unitary Authorities but was aware that by hiving off these two cities there would not be so much money available to the Hampshire County Council for use by the whole county. In spite of a strong rearguard action by the New Forest to break away, which seemed to receive little support from others, in April 1995 we heard that the Government decision was to continue the 2- tier system, and that Portsmouth and Southampton should become Unitary Authorities.
The Trust sincerely hopes that the opportunity will now be taken by the County and Winchester City Councils to improve the lines of communication and responsibility for traffic and street design within the Wards of Winchester; also that the County Council should become more accountable to the Council and residents of Winchester for what it does with its own land within the Wards of the City. The County Council's record in this respect is not good, especially where landscaping is concerned, and verges on high-handedness from time to time.
The Trust is under no illusions that the severe cutbacks on government funding for local authorities are going to cause the abandonment of projects, and a reduction towards functionalism alone at the expense of a high standard of architectural detailing that separates the ordinary building from the building with something special about it.