"A tremendous and irreplaceable asset" - TrustNews June 07
This is the description of Winchester in the new planning document for the whole South East Region of England. The City of Winchester Trust wants everyone to consider what this means. Whether we live in the City or outside, we know Winchester is special to us, but are we aware that it is a "tremendous asset" in national terms? And what is meant by the word "irreplaceable"? When something is described as irreplaceable it means that it could be lost - and gone forever. Obviously the place itself could not be lost, so it is its character that is vulnerable.
The Trust was founded 50 years ago to help preserve the character of Winchester. This was a time when demolition of irreplaceable buildings was taking place all over the country, buildings no one would now dream of knocking down. Influenced by Government pressure, the City Council saw no reason to keep the streets that contributed so much to the character of Winchester. The Trust's founders, however, were more far-seeing and tried to halt the loss. They had little success in the Brooks and Colebrook Street areas, but were more successful with Canon Street.
It is the Trust's claim that for half a century it has tended to be more far-sighted than the authorities, primarily because we have the privilege of being able to question the application of government policies. When policy poses a threat to the character of Winchester, we endeavour to find the means of influencing its application for the long term benefit of the City. The Trust, for example, led the successful battle against the government's plan to build a motorway through the water meadows when many in the establishment believed it to be inevitable. The Trust successfully resisted the official scheme for a four-lane inner ring-road that would have sliced diagonally through St John's Street, crossing the river on a massive concrete bridge, up North Walls before swinging round into Sussex Street and beyond. And long before it was considered possible by anyone else, the Trust advocated park-and-ride in preference to increasing the multi-storey car parks in the central area.
Today the Trust is concerned that three things threaten the character of Winchester: the change in balance between its age-old administrative role and its function as a growing and over-expensive dormitory town; the ever-growing pressures of traffic on the City's road system; government policy which is forcing unprecedented growth in the south east region. Some infer that the Trust's concerns are resistance to change. This is not the case. The Trust is concerned to preserve the character of Winchester, not to maintain the status quo. We greatly value the way Winchester has changed in response to the pressures of the time, evolving its rich character which we treasure today, and we want this evolution to continue. But we want the changes to enhance the character of Winchester rather than detract from it.
It is the duty of all of us, as Winchester's caretakers for future generations, to find the means of providing what the City needs: access and movement, affordable housing. the growth of the educational establishments and a healthy commercial sector, without going the way of clone-town Britain surrounded by the familiar carapace of residential and industrial sprawl. We posed this question at a recent meeting: how can Winchester and similar towns develop successfully while retaining and enhancing their unique identity, heritage and setting? And we put forward the following steps that we believe need to be taken.
1. A careful definition (to which we all contribute) of what it is that makes Winchester unique.
2. A Shared Vision of Winchester's future (already embarked upon by the City Council).
3. Identification of the likely conflicts between our own differing aspirations, and pressures imposed from outside.
4. A process of conflict resolution aimed at enhancing the character and setting of the City.
5. A Winchester masterplan or conceptual framework that will guide future development.
Seneca said it all a long time ago: "Our plans miscarry because we have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right one."