'Shame on Council' graffiti on River Park Leisure Centre in Winchester

The city council plan to transfer the land and facilities to Southampton University was sidetracked after it admitted it had not followed correct procedure by failing to consult on its plans.

The deadline for feedback from the belated consultation was Friday January 4.

The Chronicle has asked the city council for clarification on the responses and it said

READ MORE HERE: Civic chiefs rescind proposal to transfer River Park Leisure Centre in Winchester

In recent days graffiti on the boarded-up River Park Leisure Centre has made widespread feelings clear. The painted comments say: 'Public land', 'Not for sale', 'Property of the People', 'Shame on council'.

Cllr Kelsie Learney, Cabinet Member for Housing and Asset Management, said: “We are aware of disappointing incidents of vandalism at River Park and our team has previously been called out to deal with graffiti.

"This ongoing behaviour is unacceptable - dealing with graffiti and vandalism costs tax payers money and diverts our team from other work. We are reviewing CCTV footage and will continue to monitor the area. The latest incidence of graffiti relates to the advertisement of the disposal of open space in this area. The council is currently reviewing all responses received and will bring forward a report in March as promised.”

Fears for the future of the skate park have sparked an online petition with has attracted more than 2,000 names.

Among the objectors are former city councillor Judith Martin who has told the council that the site is not theirs to sell.

She states: "The site was sold by Wm Barrow Simonds in 1902 to "The Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of Winchester”. The stated purpose of the sale, and thus of the purchase, was to provide a public park or recreation ground. When in 1910 it was proposed to build an educational establishment on the site, Barrow Simonds specifically refused permission, reiterating that he had "sold the land for the use of the citizens and not for building purposes" (Barrow Simonds’s emphasis). I suggest that even if some people support the disposal, it is still greatly flawed and quite probably illegal.

"As councillors have said on numerous occasions, the site is wet. Why this should preclude a lido but not university buildings is unclear. Much clearer though is the Government’s own sequential test of flood risk - the flood risk vulnerability classification - with acceptable development types from essential infrastructure, which must not on any account ever flood, through highly vulnerable, more vulnerable, less vulnerable, and finally water-compatible development. More vulnerable includes buildings used for student halls of residence (which seem to be ruled out at River Park but look likely to be provided perhaps on the old police station site alongside) and non-residential uses for educational establishments."

SEE ALSO: 'Hands off River Park' in Winchester call to university

"The cabinet and senior officers of WCC appear to be dazzled by the possibility of having a Russell Group university presence in Winchester. Apart from the fact that Winchester already has more students per head of population than Oxford or Cambridge, with all the associated pressures on housing (and no council tax paid), while Southampton may be a highly regarded institution its stewardship of the School of Art has not been good. At the time in the 1990s when government decreed that independent schools of art should be attached to universities, the University of Winchester was still a teacher training college; otherwise it would have been a far better body to take control of Winchester School of Art. There was never any synergy between the School of Art and the University of Southampton."

A new charity, Friends of River Park, whose legal challenge forced the council to consult on its plans has responded , stating that the transfer to the university is a "really bad deal for the taxpayers and residents of Winchester."

The petition on the 38degrees website to save the skate park has attracted more than 2,300 names towards the target of 3,000.

Southampton University says it is committed to retaining the skate park.

A University of Southampton spokesperson said: "The University understands the importance to the local community of the Skatepark at River Park. At the initial public meetings in 2021 we gave a firm commitment that we would develop plans for the Leisure Centre site in consultation with the community, and that the Skatepark will be part of those plans.

"We want to find new and innovative ways of opening up the University to the Winchester community to inspire creativity, and we hope the Skatepark will be a catalyst for that type of thinking."   

Meanwhile, Hampshire Wildlife Trust has expressed concerns about redevelopment plans for the North Walls Recreation Ground as a whole and its impact on wildlife in Winnall Moors. It said it was pleased that a proposal to encourage wild swimming was being moved away from the reserve.

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Kimberley Barber