Silver Hill: Winchester City Council to use one developer

The city council wants to a single development partner rather than multiple developers which many people argue would be better.

There are concerns it mirrors the ill-fated Thornfield/TH Real Estate scheme.

Civic chiefs say circumstances are different now to five years ago when the first Silver Hill scheme foundered and that a single partner could still see several different firms of architects and so avoid the same style as with Allies and Morrison, the architects working with Thornfield.

The city council Cabinet heard that the council has considered several options for the £100million-plus scheme, from selling its land holdings in the area between Friarsgate and The Broadway to doing the whole scheme itself. The two favourite options are to revamp Kings Walk itself and have a development partner, or secondly, working with a development partner for the whole site.

Winchester: set for demolition">

Friarsgate Surgery in Winchester: set for demolition

What has changed is that the development site is smaller and comprises land mainly in city council ownership. The council will choose the development partner which had not been the case before the TH Real Estate scheme collapsed in 2016. The planning issues are clearer because an SPD (Supplementary Planning Document) was approved in 2018.

The council says having a partner is best when issues such as control, costs, risk and speed are assessed.

The council wants a mix-use scheme with private and affordable housing, workspaces, attractions for young people and for the night-time economy.

Meanwhile, the council is dropping its commitment to retain the Kings Walk building. It will make short-term repairs but is ending its commitment to spend £5m on revamping the 1970s structure for a ‘creative quarter’. Short-term uses until 2024 include ‘creative’ ideas such as converting the former Post Office loading bay and the roof of the multi-storey Friarsgate car park into a public performance space by summer 2022. Money has been set aside for a programme of events to bring the area to life and deter anti-social behaviour in Middle Brook Street.

Veryan Lyons, head of programme at the council, said the Kings Walk revamp costs were climbing but the council was committed to the creative quarter idea and having ‘meanwhile’ uses for the next three years. Proposals to spend £5m on the building have been dropped.

The council is now working up an outline business case for the scheme.

Kings Walk, Winchester

Council leader Lucille Thompson said: “Our residents are saying they want to see this art of the city transformed into a vibrant exciting area. We really need to get on with this. We have agreed the demolition of Friarsgate to create a temporary park. This demonstrates our commitment to begin the transformation we are talking about.

Cllr Angela Clear, portfolio holder for communities and well-being, said of Kings Walk: “It is a magnet for anti-social behaviour. The area needs to be revitalised now, sooner rather than later. We removed the seats and fountain. There are people sitting there and some wording is not attractive. We need to revitalise it sooner rather than later.”

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Veryan Lyons, head of programme at the council, added: “It is a problem area at the moment. We removed the seating to remove anti-social behaviour. We want to put it back and make it an area where families can sit and enjoy things in Winchester, have street food, the markets.”

Cllr Russell Gordon-Smith said: “The best way to get rid of anti-social behaviour is to get people to go there.”

Patrick Davies, a former city councillor, said it was “absurd” that the scrutiny committee was looking at Silver Hill only two days before the crucial Cabinet meeting “on issues that will affect Winchester for generations to come”.

He cited the lack of commitment to a bus station and also expressed concern at Prof Biddle’s view that serious archaeology should take place.