Chairman's Message - TrustNews Spring 1998
I would like to say thank you on your behalf for the valuable and untiring service that your late Chairman, Antony Skinner, gave to the Trust over the past five years. He has been selfless in his dedication to the task and through his efforts the standing and influence of the Trust has been greatly enhanced in many quarters. We were pleased to elect him an Honorary Life Member at the AGM. Under Antony's guidance, the membership of the Trust has now risen to over 1,000. He has now enjoyed a well deserved holiday and we hope will be rejoining the Council of the Trust later in the year.
Flavia Bateson, the Secretary to the Trust, is to leave us in the Spring. She has served for five years and wishes to concentrate on her other activities. She has contributed much to the administration and day to day running of the Trust and will be sorely missed. We wish her well for the future. We are looking for a new secretary and the appointment will be announced in the next Newsletter.
THE HOME OF THE TRUST
Most annoyingly, we still do not have a lease on the Heritage Centre which we can sign mainly because of unreasonable conditions in the terms put forward. However, our solicitor is actively pursuing the Council and hopefully something can be resolved early in the New Year. No work can start on the building until this knot is untied.
LOOKING INTO 1998
The year promises to be a busy one with many pressures on the City and its historic and beautiful setting. The major perceived threats are:
The Bushfield Area
This is a very sensitive part of the setting of Winchester which may be considered for development of one kind or another. There are several possibilities:
- Leisure Complex - current plans for a renewed bid for lottery funding are on hold for the moment but could be resurrected.
- Housing Development by the Landlords - no plans have been submitted but this may happen at some future date.
- Park-&-Ride - the area is earmarked for a Park & Ride site serving traffic approaching the City from the south and west.
To ensure that the landscape significance is given sufficient attention, the Trust is in partnership with the Hampshire County Council (HCC), Winchester City Council (WCC) and Hampshire Gardens Trust (HGT) to commission an expert study to examine and report on the landscape and townscape of Winchester. This will of course include the Bushfield area. The Trusts are contributing both finance and expertise. The consultant's report, which is due in mid-summer, will form part of a broader examination by HCC and WCC to assess Winchester's environmental capacity, to guide future development.
Morn Hill
Outline planning permission was given some years ago for an hotel to be built on the scrap yard site at Morn Hill. At a recent developer's presentation, proposals had mushroomed into not only an hotel, but a site for Intech and three office blocks with associated parking. In spite of criticism from the Trust and others, the developers have been asked to submit a planning application. The Trust will examine this in detail and where necessary object, comment or suggest viable alternatives.
County Structure Plan
The Deposited Plan proposed 44,000 new dwellings would be needed in Hampshire by 2011. The Panel at the Examination in Public (a government procedure) disagreed and suggested a figure of 56,000. The arguments are further complicated by the formation of the two unitary authorities - Southampton and Portsmouth - who have decided views on the numbers they can accommodate; leaving the balance to be built in the rest of Hampshire.
HCC has now proposed a figure of 54,000. The Trust is however at a loss to understand why they do not defend their original figure of 44,000. If it was valid when the Plan was deposited, why is it not valid now? The bottom line is that the Minister may order that the figure of 56,000 be adhered to. A similar situation has arisen in West Sussex and here the Minister did intervene. The Trust is actively involved in supporting the Council for the Preservation of Rural England which is leading the opposition to this increase.
This situation may impact on housing development in the areas of Micheldever Station and/or Barton Farm. We are in touch with the Dever Society on this and related matters.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Winchester needs all the support it can muster to prevent the despoliation of our historic City and its unrivalled setting by ill-judged and precipitate development. You, the Members of the Winchester Preservation Trust, can help in several ways.
Although we have at last broken the 1,000 members barrier, we need to increase our membership. The more members we have, the more weight will be given to the objections and arguments that the Trust may deploy on your behalf. A membership form is enclosed. Please encourage your friends and neighbours to join. If you need more forms, please contact the Heritage Centre (851664).
If you are worried by proposed developments, or the policy direction being taken by national or local government, do please write to our Member of Parliament and/or your local Councillors (both County and City) to tell them of your concerns and fears.
And lastly, from time to time we need the active help of some of the membership in the day to day activities of the Trust. Your officers work long and hard on your behalf but sometimes they may need help with research or similar activities. We would like to update our membership resources and a form is enclosed. If you may be able to help, do please fill it in and return to me at the Heritage Centre.
My best wishes to you all in the year ahead.