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© Harvey Mills Photography

Opportunity

Winchester is renowned for being one of the best places to live in the UK, and each year over five million people arrive in our city to enjoy its vibrant blend of heritage, culture, retail and food and drink experiences.

Even as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the area around Winchester Railway Station is once more serving our city as an important hub, with 8,000 people passing through Station Approach every day. This includes commuting business people, students and school pupils who arrive and leave from this busy city gateway and the increasing numbers of visitors for whom the area is a starting point for exploring the district.

Winchester City Council, working with stakeholders across the city, is looking to realise the potential of the area around Station Approach which includes the Carfax and Cattle Market sites. This project has the potential to form part of the council’s vision for a vibrant green economy that makes the best use of key sites to create a sustainable mixed-use development.

We want to support our growing green economy, improve the urban environment and make arriving in and departing from this key transport hub a more welcoming and vibrant experience.

Location plan
  1. The Carfax Site – Gladstone Street car park, the leased parking adjacent and the former register office and to the south of Hampshire County Council’s Records Office (owned by WCC).
  2. The Cattle Market site – Consisting of the Cattle Market and Worthy Lane car parks (owned by WCC).
  3. Station East – The decked car park to the East of the Station (owned by NRIL, operated by South Western Railway – SWR)
  4. Station West – Surface car parking along the western side of the railway line and the decked car park to the West of the Station (owned by NRIL, operated by SWR)
  5. The DIO site currently used as a base for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Army Cadet Force. WCC is in conversation with the DIO to establish if and when they may release this site for re-development.

Green areas outside redline boundary

This indicates that the project will consider how these areas can integrate and connect better with public realm improvements within the redline as well as considering how connectivity between these areas can be enhanced.

The site is located in the area around Winchester railway station

The Station Approach area is allocated for regeneration in Winchester City Council’s current local plan. There is a new Local Plan consultation process underway and Station Approach will remain an allocation in the emerging Draft Local Plan.

Recognising that Station Approach can be a truly exciting opportunity for Winchester, Winchester City Council is currently exploring potential opportunities around sites at Station Approach to develop a concept masterplan together that is both viable and supported by the community. The first stage of work in 2022 agreed a set of four development principles that would guide further detailed work. You can find these here

We are looking to ensure the area thrives by listening to both what locals want to see on their doorstep, and also capturing the experience of people travelling to and from our city before and after they board and alight the trains, buses and bikes that bring them here. And we’re determined to see that whatever we do is viable and sustainable – supporting low carbon transport, development and business opportunities will be key to ensuring that any development works not just for our generation but for those to come. As we shape future proposals, we aim to do this in a way that recognises Winchester’s heritage – creating a community for the future that never forgets our past.

Image of the area around station approach as it is today
Image of the area around station approach as it is today
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