Plans to transform Winchester city centre revealed

Winchester City Council has revealed plans to transform a part of the city centre into an area to “live, work and play”.

Proposals for the site include developing high quality new homes, flexible workspaces, a thriving night-time economy and beautiful public spaces.

The area includes Winchester Bus Station, Kings Walk, the old Friarsgate Medical Centre and Coitbury House.

The council will be sharing proposals for the area at a number of virtual events throughout the next month, including a virtual exhibition and public consultation sessions.

As the council is aiming to make Winchester carbon neutral by 2024 this will be a priority for the development of the area.

Part of the plan is to create quieter spaces along the riverside to the east and brighter, more active social spaces to the west end.

Councillor Kelsie Learney, Cabinet Member for Housing and Asset Management said: “Today marks a significant step forward in transforming an underused area of the city centre into a truly special place. It’s taken a huge amount of work to create viable development proposals which achieve the aspirations for this crucial site in the heart of our city.

“In these difficult times we have given lots of thought to how we can involve as many people as possible and hope that by hosting the exhibition online and inviting everyone yo join an online consultation session even more people will be able to get involved and let us know what they think about our proposals – because we can’t wait to get started!”