Romsey Brewery site: Frustration growing over undeveloped eyesore

The former Romsey Brewery site has been empty since 1988 and Stanborough Developments Ltd had an application approved for 211 homes in 2006.

Since then, there has been very little activity at the site, with civic chiefs growing increasingly frustrated. By 2019, just 13 homes had been built. 

Romsey MP Caroline Nokes said: “There can be no doubt that the former brewery site remains an eye sore in the centre of the town and an irritant to many local residents, not least those who live on the site in the houses / flats that have actually been finished.

“I am a little prone to telling people that the last brew was started on my 11th birthday (June 26 1983) and sadly I am not 21, 31, 41, or even 51 for much longer! It has been 40 years of the site stagnating in the centre of Romsey. 

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“The main problem stems from the fact that the development has been started, but there is no requirement in law for a timescale within which the developer should complete it. I have argued in Parliament that there should be some sort of mechanism that penalised developers for not completing sites. 

“However, it is well documented that every time the borough council has tried to execute a compulsory purchase order on the site the developer has done a tiny bit more to fend off that threat. 

“Successive local councillors have tried to get a solution here, and the real challenge is whether any government minister would be prepared to legislate retrospectively. The evidence so far seems to suggest not.”

Cllr Nick Adams-King, cabinet member for Test Valley Borough Council, described the site as a 'blot on the landscape'. He said: “The Romsey Brewery site is a blot on the landscape of our wonderful town which I, and many of my colleagues, have been working to resolve for many years. The landowner, Stanborough Ltd, shows no interest in building the site out, so it sits as a carbuncle with the council left seemingly impotent in forcing action. We have tried many things, appealed to their better judgement, threatened, cajoled and offered to purchase the site from them. We have been exploring every avenue to find a solution.

“The test applied to a compulsory purchase of any site is a high one. It takes much time, is expensive and includes gathering an enormous amount of data and evidence. That does not mean, in my opinion, we should not pursue that course.

“I recognise the enormous amount of frustration everyone in Romsey feels about the site. I share it myself. This site could provide hundreds of much needed homes in the centre of town. I hope very much we will be able to deliver the housing we not only need, but deserve, on this site and will not give up until we can do so.”

Romsey town councillor John Critchley told the Advertiser that the situation was 'incomprehensible'.

He added: “The whole situation is disgraceful in many ways. It could have lots of homes in the town centre. It's also disgraceful that no government has been able to sort it out. It's incomprehensible to me as a resident and a town councillor. I want to see it developed. The site is a total mess. My general feeling is pure frustration over the inability to get the developer to do something.”

The developer Stanborough Developments Ltd has been approached for a comment.