It was with great dismay that I looked at the picture of the proposed Kings Walk from Silver Hill, a building which is supposed to be breathing life into the new shopping arcade, pictured on page 2 of the Thursday August 4 edition of the Hampshire Chronicle.

It is a totally unsuitable design. The plans for the new development are supposed to be attracting more creative independent businesses to the centre of Winchester. There is no character or appeal in the façade that is of any interest to businesses or the public in the proposed revamp of Kings Walk. It looks like an old supermarket, prison or a car park in design.

READ MORE HERE: City council reveal details of £385,000 revamp of Kings Walk

When you compare the care and restoration that is taking place on the building of The Brasserie Blanc in Jewry Street on page 14 of the Thursday August 4 edition, here is a building that promotes interest and projects the history of Winchester. I despair of the future of the City of Winchester, if all the planners can come up with for a new and exciting part of Winchester, is a building that looks like the outside of a multi storey car park. The Silver Hill building should reflect the historical and beautiful buildings that are part of the City of Winchester. The Kings Walk and Silver Hill shops were originally full of character. I do not think that this bland ‘car park’ type of building does anything for promoting a cultural quarter in the City of Winchester. It  does nothing to invite interest or inspire. It is designed to be a failure before it is built. While internally this building may cater for spaces for start-up businesses, it in no way gives any indication  of this externally.  Previously there were archways, curved windows and pleasing areas that twisted and turned and were not all regimented in straight lines.

Hampshire Chronicle:

I am totally against spending a budget of £385,000 on such a building as this is definitely not an improvement on what was there previously.  It has no visual appeal at all.  It is the furthest from being an acceptable replacement, as were the previous designs with huge plate glass windows with stark sliding glass doors. The quaint shops and alleyways were, in their own way, beautiful, before all the plain uninteresting cheap build was proposed to replace the original buildings. There are many other towns where modern buildings have been totally in keeping with the historical buildings of the past. I, as a rate payer, am not at all satisfied with what is to be done. If other towns and Cities can build frontages that are in keeping with the existing historic buildings, why is it that Winchester cannot do the same?

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I attended a very early council meeting about Silver Hill in the main hall of the Guildhall. At one point, we were all made to leave the building and stand on the Guildhall steps, while part of the meeting took place. As I stood on the steps and looked at the gracefully lit older buildings, which had been temporarily let until they could be demolished, I was thinking, why are we demolishing these buildings and replacing them with buildings that are entirely unsuitable? The replacement buildings could be made to look as if they fitted in to the City, rather than stand out, as being modern and unsightly.

 

Cllr Christine Hill

Twyford

Winchester