SILVER HILL DEVELOPMENT
Current situation from the point of view of The City of Winchester Trust
A number of our Members have been approached over the last few months asking where the Trust stands over the Silver Hill scheme, which is currently under consideration. I imagine, like everybody else, we are waiting to see the outcome of the various authorities' deliberations, before giving a considered opinion.
We are certainly concerned that the scheme now being reconsidered by the developer is the 2009 approved design. We objected to this scheme at the time, our main objections being:
The poor quality layouts of the affordable houses being provided.
The height of blocks A and B in particular.
In our opinion, there was an over provision for car parking which exacerbated the height problem.
The indifferent quality of the development facing Friarsgate, which included the handling of the bus station and the bland overpowering frontages, which seemed to miss the opportunity to enliven the street scene.
There were a number of design items on which we would have wished for further clarification, but these were not made available to us.
We still stand by our objections to the 2009 submission. We still consider that the heavily revised design of 2014 was a considerable improvement over the 2009 approved scheme, as this incorporated many of the comments we made concerning the approved design.
We will, of course, continue to monitor the progress of the Silver Hill project.