Chairman's Miscellany - TrustNews September 2006
It was encouraging to see that the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sports Select Committee which was set up to consider “Protecting and preserving our heritage”, having assessed all the evidence (including that presented by this Trust), reported in June to attack the Department and the Government for its lack of commitment to our heritage as evidenced by withdrawal of funding from English Heritage and Local Authorities. Whether the Government will pay any attention to this report is another matter.
We continue the pursuit of Heritage Town status. A presentation was arranged for members (as advertised in the last TrustNews) and the invitation extended to members of Winchester Residents Association making for a large and lively audience. It was disappointing that failure of the hired projection equipment put extra demands on Michael Carden, who nevertheless gave an excellent presentation that prompted a lively discussion culminating in wholehearted support for the project. A presentation was also made to Winchester City Council’s senior management team of Officers, some of whom demonstrated a somewhat negative attitude, especially on the need for a master plan for Winchester, the idea of having an eminent ‘design champion’ and a better resourced planning department. Our next step is to make the presentation to the new Cabinet, which we shall be doing on September 13th.
We welcomed in early June a new draft of the Vision for Winchester document produced under the aegis of the Town Forum. The Policy Group submitted the Trust’s comments but has had no response or acknowledgement. We also wrote to the Chair of the Town Forum applauding its use for consultation purposes and asking for information about plans they may have for future discussion topics but again have had no response.
Further progress has also been made on the Bushfield Down project with a successful meeting at St. Cross, followed by a walk around the site. The Master of St. Cross, the Revd Jim Bates and the Porter, Mrs Secker, welcomed 24 ‘stakeholders’ to tea on a beautiful evening in July. There were representatives of Twyford, Badger Farm and Oliver’s Battery Parish Councils (unfortunately Compton & Shawford PC was not represented); also Councillors Lipscomb (Planning Portfolio Holder), Collin and de Peyer from WCC and Councillor Bailey from HCC. We were particularly pleased to welcome several local walkers, representatives of the Winchester Residents Association and Butterfly/ Moth interests represented by Tim Walker.
Our walk was led by John Pilkington who kindly ‘lowered his sights’ for our purposes and demonstrated the importance of Bushfield Down in the setting of Winchester. Now that the threat of development for formal sports use here has been removed and the site is not favoured for Park & Ride, it only remains to persuade the Church Commissioners that it would enhance their reputation and contribute modestly to their funds if the land were to be properly managed for the common good, attracting DEFRA grant aid, and the unsympathetic elements that attract detritus removed.
The Trust took part in the consultation exercise to determine the preferred location of the next Park & Ride site. The weight of economic evidence seems to favour the old Tarmac site, which also has access advantages. However, the Trust has concerns as to whether all possible measures will be taken to minimise the visual impact.
Of course, the Silver Hill Renaissance has been a primary matter of concern, especially since the submission of the planning application by Thornfield plc in June. Many member hours have been spent in trying to understand the detailed plans and we were pleased to see the long awaited model at the end of July. This enables a better understanding of the development as it relates to its surroundings. The developers and architects have been untiring in their efforts to communicate with the public and the Trust, for which we are grateful, and the Trust Council will be deciding on the detailed comments as this Newsletter is being printed. All comments sent to us by members have been made available to all Trust Council members. The size of the development is, of course, dictated by the requirements of the City Council which are well in excess of the originally agreed brief for the site. As the City Council owns Cossack Lane Car Park on the other side of Friarsgate, could this not be used to spread the load?
This year Nick McPherson, once again, devised and organised a wonderfully interesting programme of Summer Walks on which he reports in this issue. The sad fact is that after 12 years, Nick feels he must bow out, which is understandable but his departure will leave a large hole in Trust activity. It is symptomatic of a malaise from which the Trust is suffering – a volunteering deficit. To carry on the tasks that are essential for effectiveness, there is an increasing need for help. More specifically we need help in the following tasks:
- Maintaining our archives and records.
- Publicity on various levels but most importantly making contact with younger residents.
- Arranging lectures from time to time.
- Arranging visits to places of interest.
- One-off events to celebrate our 50th Anniversary next year.
Lastly – you need a new Chairman.