Development Control Committee - TrustNews Spring 1999
The New Year seems a good time for an update on some of the applications discussed in previous newsletters.
We understand the Queen's Court site on the upper level of Peninsula Barracks has been sold on (at a vast profit because of its planning consent) and hope this won't lead to the gruelling process of considering yet another scheme for this site - it took from November 1997 to May 1998 to agree the last development.
The prospects for Bereweeke Road have improved somewhat. Instead of facing demolition, the Chantry Mead Hotel is to be converted into 11 flats - a great improvement on the ugly new block of 21 flats originally proposed, even though there will be a sea of parked cars at the front. The appeal against refusal of the 43-bedroom nursing home proposed in place of Bereweeke House was dismissed, and the applicants have come back with a scheme for a new block of 16 flats. Benefits of the scheme are the scale of the building, which seems acceptable as seen from the road, and the steep slope of the site, which means that virtually all the cars can be parked under the building. From directions other than the front, the block could seem disturbingly large and the lack of cohesion in its design, especially regarding the unrelated styles and proportions of the windows, does nothing to improve this impression. We feel the design needs further thought and have objected to this initial proposal.
New flats are now also proposed at Ropewalk House, 1 North Walls, where a scheme for 11 flats replaces one for six 3-storey town houses, to which we had objected. We have also objected to the current proposal, which is even less sensitive of its surroundings than the previous one, being a lumpen 3-storey block sited near the boundary on the corner of North Walls and Hyde Abbey Road in a way that would dwarf all existing nearby buildings on the north side of North Walls. A decision on this is awaited.
Members may have seen the results of another appeal reported in the local press. This was the dismissal of an appeal by the Portman Building Society against the City's refusal to let the ex-Hush Puppy premises at 29 High Street be used for offices. The importance of this decision was not obvious in the report, but it is in fact a local watershed, being the first time a building society's desires have been treated as less important than the environment of Winchester's central conservation area. Ever since the Abbey National's successful appeal in 1992 allowed them to take over a retail site in the High Street, the City (strongly supported by the Trust) has fought against similar changes of use, only to have their objections dismissed on appeal. Useful though such outlets are, building society window displays of cash dispensing machines and notices have no 'sparkle' and their cumulative effect is detrimental to the character of the High Street. This decision is therefore very heartening.
Closed circuit television (CCTV) and its requirements are also exerting pressure on the city centre. The present lighting is apparently not considered adequate to allow a satisfactorily clear picture to be taken, and the County Surveyor wants to rectify this. Unfortunately, it is proposed to do this in an ad hoc way by tacking a vast number of "luminaires" onto various buildings in the High Street and The Square. As far as can be judged from the very limited details provided, the result would be a lot of rather crude fittings and lighting levels more suitable for a football pitch than the centre of an historic town. We feel most strongly that Winchester deserves something better than a basic technical solution to this problem, and we are urging that an assessment of the character of the different areas should be undertaken, so that the levels of lighting needed by CCTV can be provided in a manner suited to this sensitive part of the City.
The proposed Morn Hill Site
Another threat is the telecommunications industry. As well as the 21 large satellite dishes proposed at Morn Hill, sites for masts with antennae and smaller dishes are constantly sought in Winchester and the surrounding districts. Government policy is to encourage the growth of this industry, which has been released from many of the planning constraints facing lesser mortals. Full planning applications are not needed for masts not exceeding 15 metres, and the local authority has only 28 days (instead of the usual 8 weeks) in which to decide whether the siting of the mast and its associated equipment is so intrusive that it warrants an Article 4 direction which revokes permitted development rights, so requiring a full application -this process needs the Secretary of State's approval so it means a very tight schedule indeed. Masts above 15 metres need normal planning consent, and if an appeal follows a refusal, it is more than possible for an obtrusive mast to be permitted because it "fills a black hole in communications" and is therefore "in the national interest". Apart from the continuing expansion of the various operators' coverage, the demand for sites is being exacerbated by the change from analogue to digital technology. The cellular (analogue) systems that needed masts spaced about 20 miles apart are now being replaced by the personal communications (digital) networks that require a typical mast-spacing of about 5 miles.
In the last few months the siting of a 15 metre (and therefore permitted) mast and its associated unsightly ground-level structures has had to be allowed on the Teg Down Reservoir site between the Sarum Road Hospital and the houses on Chilbolton Avenue, and the planning authority has successfully managed the withdrawal of a scheme for a 20 metre tree mast on the skyline at Maybush, Oliver's Battery Gardens. The operators will no doubt come back with further proposals. Currently going through the planning process is another mast (22.5 metres high with associated equipment cabins and security fencing) somewhere on land belonging to the Winchester Lawn Tennis Club, Bereweeke Road. No details were provided in the application of how this very tall mast on the Winchester skyline would look from a distance, and it appears that the tennis club now wants it sited elsewhere on their land. Once its location has been decided, a balloon will be flown to establish from where the mast would be seen. Watch this space for further developments!
These recent applications in and around Winchester are only the tip of a very large iceburg that is threatening to engulf us all, to the detriment of local environments all over the country. Government directives encourage mast-sharing or installations on existing structures and expect operators to show that all possible options have been considered; sadly the local authorities have been left with no means of making this happen. This state of affairs could lead to an uncontrollable proliferation of masts littering our towns and countryside, with every view blighted by one of these towers. We suggest our members should write to their MP to press for changes in the present legislation before it is too late to improve this unfortunate situation.