Silver Hill

Background

The area known as Silver Hill covers an area of approximately 2.3 hectares of central Winchester. It includes the bus station, Friarsgate medical centre,
Kings Walk and the Friarsgate car park amongst other elements. Since the end of the 1990s the Council has been seeking the comprehensive redevelopment of this area to improve the quality of retail, residential and public space in the Silver Hill area.

After careful consideration of all the issues and the preparation of a Planning Brief in 2003, the Council entered into a Development Agreement with Thornfield Properties to promote a comprehensive redevelopment, backed by the use of compulsory purchase powers if necessary.

Planning consent for a new development on the area was granted in 2008. The scheme includes:

287 residential units
Just under 100,000 square feet of new retail space
18,000 square feet of office accommodation
A new bus station
A new public car park
New public spaces, including improvements to the Broadway

By 2008 it had also become clear that the land necessary for the redevelopment would not be brought together by agreement between the owners and the Council therefore resolved to use compulsory purchase powers.

The Council agreed to make an order for the compulsory purchase but before further progress could be made, Thornfield Properties lost their financial backing as the credit crunch of 2008 and 2009 caused their bank to withdraw from funding commercial property schemes.

Fortunately the strength of the economy in Winchester meant that the scheme was still attractive to potential developers, and the share capital of Thornfield Properties was bought by the UK Property Fund of Henderson Global Investors - a major international company which invests money in existing and new development opportunities.

Henderson completed all of the necessary legal processes and in July 2011 the scheme became fully active again. The Council reconsidered its decision to use compulsory purchase powers and confirmed its wish to do.

Compulsory Purchase Order

Having made the compulsory purchase order the Council has to ask for it to be confirmed by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Before doing so the Secretary of State holds an inquiry into any objections from people who believe that the order should not be confirmed. The inquiry is conducted by an inspector appointed for the Secretary of State by the Planning Inspectorate. The inspector will report her findings and recommendation in writing to the Secretary of State some weeks after the inquiry closes. He will consider her report and then issue his decision, which does not have to agree with the recommendation.

The public inquiry in Winchester starts on the 26 June 2012 in the Guildhall. It is expected to last 8 days. Full details of the arrangements will be published nearer the time. The inquiry is open to the public but only those people who have already made an objection are allowed to actively participate.

The background documents to the order, including all the various committee reports, schedules, maps and plans are now available for inspection at the Council Offices in Winchester during normal office hours. We hope to put these in one convenient location on the Council's website as soon as time allows. Some key reports are accessible already by clicking the links below.

What happens after decision?

If the decision of the Secretary of State is to confirm the order then the development process will begin in 2013. The site will not be developed all in one go, but in a small number of phases. Any contractor appointed to undertake construction will be very experienced in town centre developments and we would not expect there to be any significant impact on the rest of the town as construction takes place.

If the order is not confirmed the Council will have to consider other ways to achieve the comprehensive redevelopment of the area.

St Clements Surgery

The redevelopment of Silver Hill would mean that the St Clements Surgery in Tanner Street needs to be relocated. Obviously there cannot be a gap between closing the existing surgery and opening the new one so the Council is working closely with the GPs to plan for a new building which would be ready in good time. A planning application is currently under consideration for a purpose designed surgery on the site of the Upper Brook Street car park, just a few hundred metres from the existing premises.