Chairman's Miscellany - TrustNews Dec 2004
The trust has been involved in discussions on the following projects in the City during the last three months.
1. Vision In response to a request for community contributions at a Town Forum to seek a vision for Winchester, the Policy Group submitted a paper part of which is reproduced in this issue to reflect the views of the Trust.
2. Friarsgate At the end of October, Robin Cooper, Director of Development Services at the City Council gave a presentation to the Trust Council accompanied by Mr. Mike Capocci, Director of Thornfields, Developers, and Paul Appleton, Architect from Allies & Morrison, Master Planners for the site. We were pleased to see the block plan respected the important features and characteristics of this part of Winchester and to hear that the shopping to be provided would be of a scale to enhance the role of specialist shopping town that the Trust envisages for Winchester. In addition to ground floor shopping, there will be replacement car parking at first floor level, retention of the Woolstapler's Hall, 360 housing units with 260 car spaces and a replacement for the Antiques Market as well as an enlarged area for the Market. Following the acceptance of the principles of development by the City Council on November 3rd, the Trust hopes to have further discussion about the plans. In particular, we hope that the City Council will ask the consultants, who have demonstrated such a sensitive understanding of the site and its surroundings, to tackle the problems of traffic circulation in Friarsgate and St. George's Street and the implications of developing Cossack Lane and St. Peter's car parks in the future.
3. Library Whilst welcoming the redevelopment of the Jewry Street site to provide a modern Library complex incorporating the Reference Library, Trust Council members were not convinced that the plans we saw could achieve adequate space for books and study. We have written to the leaders of both County and City Councils to ask for more information.
4. Peninsula Barracks The Trust was consulted on signage and interpretation. We feel there is plenty of room for improvement at present and hope that some of our ideas may be implemented to improve use of this splendid but underused part of our City.
In September we held 'open house' at the Heritage Centre for Heritage Open Days sponsored by the Civic Trust and welcomed over 100 visitors with a display of The Brooks area before the clearance.
In conclusion, the members of the Trust Council were sorry to learn that Robin Cooper will be leaving Winchester soon and we wish him well in his new post.