Chairman's Miscellany - TrustNews Mar 11
It has been a busy time since I expressed my thoughts at the beginning of December. We suffered unusually fierce weather and for a long time. We teetered around the City, nervous in our cars as they slid about on the untreated icy side roads and even more nervous as we walked of icy pavements. The latter caught Shione Carden just yards from her home, causing a broken hip. Characteristically, she saw that as a challenge and was seen boarding a bus, with two sticks, not long afterwards. Progress has been maintained - to the benefit of the Trust and the City which it serves.
I do hope that when you read this there will be measurable signs of spring. At the very least, longer light in the afternoons. Weather apart, a lot has been happening. The Public Inquiry into, in effect, the refusal of development permission for 2000 houses on Barton Farm began on 8th February and will be over by the time you read this. The Trust was represented by Michael Carden and by Harvey Cole, whose generous offer to speak about the unreality of provision of “affordable homes” was grasped with enthusiasm by the Trust. Both spoke with great authority and confidence and put our views with quiet determination. The result of the inquiry will not be known for some time.
Looking to the next few months, There is another programme of “walks” organised by John Beveridge which includes such mysteries as Winchester 1818 and Wellington. Of necessity, it has been necessary to introduce restriction of numbers for some of the walks. There are also some excursions planned. You will see that some of these ask you to pay a small deposit when you book. There are two reasons for this. The first is that some excursions require detailed planning and involve other organisations and people. We need to be sure of our numbers to know whether the visit is viable before it proceeds. The second is that we may need to commit to paying fees to outside speakers which will be payable even if the excursion does not take place. We hope that these plans are well supported which will encourage more ambitious plans in future years.
Finally, congratulations to the planning enforcement department of Winchester City Council for their success in causing the facade of 7 St Cross Road to be restored to a presentable state. The work which had to be done was in the long term interests of this prominent small building and to the benefit of the city.