Trust's Strategic Vision - TrustNews Summer 2001
The Chairman and the Council of the Trust were very pleased with the reception given to the presentations made on the subject of the policy discussion paper entitled 'The Future of Winchester - A Strategic Vision'. They congratulate the Policy Group on their valuable work in forwarding the objects of the Trust.
Two presentations were made. One to the membership; the second, to an invited audience of Councillors and senior Planning Officers from both the County and the City and to other guests. The questions from the floor were positive and constructive as have been the great majority of the written comments received to date.
The Policy Group is now considering the comments received. When this process is complete they will then make recommendations for further action.
Synopsis of Members' Comments on the Trust's Policy document
Following the launch of the Strategic Vision, 36 members responded. 35 expressed varying degrees of enthusiasm for the initiative and 33 made comments and posed questions. The majority of these fall into three categories:
Density & Design, Traffic & Car Parking, and Landscape & Townscape.
St James' Terrace
Density & Design - 23
There was support for increased density of development in appropriate areas if it is to be of high quality and to contribute to the provision of more affordable housing and a sense of place.
Concerns were expressed over the failure of the document to capture the ethos and style of Winchester and the need to retain its scale and compact geographical form The large cities used as exemplars were considered inappropriate as courtyards and alleyways were a more likely solution than squares and streets.
'Expert-knows-best solution — disastrous in the past'
Some questioned what 'design-led' planning meant and whether it would seek to impose the expert-knows-best solution, which has proved disastrous in the past. "The visions of well known architects are not necessarily suitable for Winchester and some of the best-liked buildings are pastiche." However, there was broad agreement that the City Council will need courage to resist the mediocre and the will to employ the skills, which Winchester deserves. Some wondered whether the Government would amend the present non-interventionist planning system so as to encourage better schemes.
Some members felt that the City Council was already fulfilling some of the aspirations — higher densities on brown field sites, housing over shops and the insistence on good materials.
Traffic & Parking - 15
Eastgate Street
Many were doubtful whether the strategy proposed would work or be accepted, as the lack of a ring road precluded realistic plans to exclude vehicles. Other comments were that no amount of public transport would make people give up their cars; town centre parking was needed to maintain the viability of shopping; residents and visitors must somehow be accommodated; Park & Ride should be restrained as these car parks on the perimeter would deface the landscape; what would be demolished to provide Park & Walk sites? An incremental approach, as advised in the Winchester Movement and Access Plan (WMAP) should be pursued.
Landscape & Townscape - 9
These referred to the importance of retaining the landscape setting of the City, its tree-lined access routes and 'green wedges'; the need to maintain the trees and to plant more, and to allow sufficient space for their future growth and maintenance It was suggested that the document did not give sufficient emphasis to the landscaping of new buildings and that better use should be made of existing open spaces e.g. the Law Courts, increasing housing density should not encroach on existing large houses with gardens in conservation areas such as St. Cross.
There were comments, suggestions and questions of a more general nature - the policy should encourage a consensus approach to development and wide participation; large developments should be the subject of architectural competition; the need to define the City 'core' and boundaries. Some referred to points of detail such as the provision of better open/covered market and library, access for wheel-chair users, and the need to separate the provision for arts and for sports.
Some felt that members should have been consulted prior to the launch of the document and hoped that the Trust would not make a habit of producing glossy brochures, but there was also a view that it was 'value for money' in influencing the Local Authorities.
Looking to the future, members asked how the Trust aimed to get wide support from all sectors of the community for the policies, which would be essential for progress. One member commented, "World skills together with the strategy set out in 'Power of Place' will be needed to implement the 'Vision'.
Some Detailed Comments
Members sent 36 letters to the trust in response to the Chairman's request for comments on the new Policy paper. The Council and the Policy Group are very grateful to members for their time and effort it is an impressive response.
"It was very encouraging to read this document. It is clear, concise and pertinent — not just to Winchester but to the way we live, or might live, in cities generally"
Most of the replies were tremendously supportive. Typical were comments such as 'I do congratulate all those who have been involved, and send my good wishes for future work." And, "lt is a wonderfully encouraging, stimulating and well set out document It should help move the City authorities on from piecemeal attempts to improve the City towards a co-ordinated plan to tackle Winchester's problems as a whole " The Planners are striving to find the best way forward, but the Trust agrees with another member that the Strategic Vision ... "lifts the whole debate on the way we regard the future of the City to an entirely new plane...." One Trust member went so far as to say that the document "must surely be the most important and imaginative initiative that the Trust has (ever?) made." The authors would like to thank members for their kind words.
Three letters were generally critical of the paper. One writer felt that "members should be consulted about spending the Trust's money on producing more papers" and that it was not realistic to pursue a "grand design". Another member felt that Trust members should have been able to comment before the paper was printed. A third member thought that there could not be many opportunities for "squares' and crescents to fit onto brown-field sites".
Most members, while approving of the document, expressed concerns about various points. Some of these were simply misunderstandings, and the authors would like to apologise where they failed to make their meaning clear.
For example, the Trust has no intention of advocating major clearance and redevelopment, as some members feared. Redevelopment on brown-field sites should happen as opportunities occur. The Trust does however believe that the City ought to be more active in planning ahead and in assembling sites so that high-quality urban building can be achieved, rather than the suburban-style infill, which too often happens when individual gardens are divided up and built on.
"The weak link is that the illustrations do not support the Vision as well as they might, many of them have a tentative relationship with the text and are not captioned appropriately."
Other members felt that the paper sought to compare Winchester with Paris, London, Barcelona, etc. either through the use of pictures, or in the text, and that Winchester is a small town and just not comparable. That point is well taken. The problem the authors faced was that they had insufficient time to research and find good examples of recent urban street developments that would be relevant to Winchester. If members know of any, please would they let the Trust know?
Some members felt that the document was not sufficiently precise. For example, it does not define where the boundary of the City Core is. That is a fair comment. However, at this stage, the time and work to have done so would have delayed the paper tremendously. The authors felt that the vital thing was to introduce the concept that there is such a thing as the Core, and that it is different to the outer areas of the City, and should be treated differently.
Most controversial – traffic and parking
Barcelona and Winchester not comparable?
Of all the practical problems members raised, unsurprisingly traffic and parking was the most controversial. Some members wondered whether it was realistic to call for pedestrian priority in residential streets, and in the Core? Would people leave their cars at the edge of the Core, and walk? Could commerce flourish in such a city? How would we eliminate through traffic, and so on? The Trust understands these concerns and considers this is one of the trickiest problems of the whole subject. At this stage, we have to say that there is more work to do to show how it can be done in Winchester, but it is being done elsewhere. Two members pointed out that the work of the Winchester Movement and Access Panel was consistent with the policy paper, and should be supported by the Trust. One member quoted the Dutch woonerven, or home zones, in support of the paper's thesis. It is clear that achieving these goals will take time, and will require commitment and vision from the City Authorities.
Acceptance of increased housing density
Perhaps one of the most surprising things about members' replies was the general acceptance of increased housing density as a goal (which is now, of course, Government policy). A number of members were concerned whether four-storey town houses could be satisfactory for families. Would they imply apartments? Fortunately, there are creative solutions to these concerns. Yes, the Trust foresees that there will be flats in some cases, because well-built flats in city centres are proving popular with the young. There can also be accommodation for larger families on the lower three floors, and flats above. Clever arrangements of town houses divided into two-storey units, one above the other, both with street entrances and gardens are also possible. One member felt that blocks of flats have their place. The Trust would draw a distinction between flats in buildings that preserve the street frontage, and blocks in landscape settings, which usually prove unacceptable because of social problems due to the creation of "no man's lands".
Modern architecture – some cannot stand it, others are delighted
It is clear that the members of the Trust are divided on their attitude to modern architecture. Some cannot stand it at any price, while others are delighted by the best of it. The discussion paper tries to distinguish between quality and style. It calls for the best quality, but maintains neutrality on style, other than to say that, whatever style is chosen, it should be done well, and that "pastiche" (superficial or inappropriate use of historic styles) should be avoided.
"I very much hope that Winchester wholeheartedly embraces this Vision and that the city retrieves its special character as a good place to five and work."
The Trust sincerely thanks members for their support and thoughtful ideas and comments, which have been most interesting. It is clear that there is much more work to be done, both in spreading the word, in obtaining support from all sectors of the community, and in further studies on many of the points that members have raised. if any members feel able to help with this work, the Trust would be very pleased to hear from them.
Copies of ‘The Future of Winchester – A Strategic Vision’ can be obtained from the Hertiage Centre – 01962 851644.