Agenda item

1.     That the indicative project outline be noted and the overall work plan be agreed ahead of the Strategic Outline Case submission in December/January 2022/23.

2.     That the study area for the Station Approach project, set out in paragraph 11.7 of report CAB3349, be agreed (NB replacement map of study area published in an addendum to the report).

3.     That the draft development principles that will be consulted on as part of the initial communication and engagement phase set out in paragraph 11.10 of report CAB3349 be agreed.

4.     That the Communications and Engagement Strategy for the Station Approach project be agreed as set out in report CAB3349/Appendix 1 to the report.

5.     That the public engagement and consultation process for the Station Approach project be launched on 1 August 2022 and run to 23 October 2022.

6.     That the council should continue exploring opportunities with Network Rail and London & Continental Railways (LCR) to produce a joined-up plan for the area.

7.     That a cross-party reference group for the Station Approach project be established as set out in paragraph 6.2 of report CAB3349 and the finalisation of these arrangements be delegated to the Strategic Director – Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Asset Management.

Councillor Tod introduced the report and highlighted the importance of the project for the district and that the report set out a new beginning for the project with a different approach to bring this development forward.  The report had been considered at the Scrutiny Committee on 13 July 2022 and a minute extract of that Committee’s recommendations had been circulated prior to the meeting.  In addition, responses to each of the points raised had been prepared and circulated.  Both additional papers have been published as addenda to the report on the council’s website. 

Two members of the public spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

Imogen Dawson

Reiterated her comments made at the Scrutiny Committee requesting that the project be paused because of the large degree of uncertainty with the economy and future ways of working, post pandemic.  In addition, the impact of the planned new park and ride at north Winchester should be assessed before any decisions were made regarding the Cattle Market car park. Queried how the council would manage and phase major projects in the city.  Highlighted the complicated nature of the area with multiple different uses.  There needed to be an integrated transport plan and suggested that the area should provide new housing accommodation and green spaces rather than shops and offices.  Suggested that the radius of consultation be extended to one mile.

Chris Higgins

Supported the principle of the development of the station approach area and emphasised the importance of learning lessons from past projects.  Highlighted that the locally based architect’s firm, Design Engine had undertaken a great deal of work for the previous project and would be a valuable source of information for the council.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Wallace and Read addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Wallace

Along with the Central Winchester Regeneration project, Station Approach offered a fantastic opportunity for Winchester to position itself as a green city.  Highlighted the requirement for at least a 10% reduction in transport emissions by 2030 and that the site offered a great opportunity to eliminate car usage and focus on sustainable transport.  The site development process should include minimising the carbon impact of the project build itself together with ongoing carbon costs.  Suppliers should be asked to provide the carbon impact of their proposals.

Councillor Read

Welcomed the restart of the project as the opportunity to offer better use of council owned land, but queried what had changed in terms of the strategic objectives of the project compared to the last time.   In addition, questioned the purpose of new public consultation if the strategic objectives remained largely unchanged.  Considered the timing of the Scrutiny Committee did not offer adequate opportunity for comments to be properly considered prior to Cabinet.

The Leader thanked the public and invited councillors for their contributions which were addressed in the following Cabinet discussion.  In particular, the Leader outlined the very different approach being proposed in the current iteration of the project and confirmed that a meeting would be held with Design Engine.

The Strategic Director: Place and the Project Lead provided further information about the wide range of different types of consultation being proposed.

The Strategic Director: Place advised that two amendments were proposed to those set out in the report, as detailed in the addendum responded to the comments from the Scrutiny Committee.  These were to extend the consultation period to 23 October 2022 and also to reference the replacement map.  These were agreed.

Cabinet agreed the following for the reasons set out above and outlined in the report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the indicative project outline be noted and the overall work plan be agreed ahead of the Strategic Outline Case submission in December/January 2022/23.

2.         That the study area for the Station Approach project, set out in paragraph 11.7 of the report be agreed (NB replacement map of study area published in an addendum to the report).

3.         That the draft development principles that will be consulted on as part of the initial communication and engagement phase set out in paragraph 11.10 be agreed.

4.         That the Communications and Engagement Strategy for the Station Approach project be agreed as set out in the report and appendix 1 to the report.

5.         That the public engagement and consultation process for the Station Approach project be launched on 1 August 2022 and run to 23 October 2022.

6.         That the council should continue exploring opportunities with Network Rail and London & Continental Railways (LCR) to produce a joined-up plan for the area.

7.         That a cross-party reference group for the Station Approach project be established as set out in paragraph 6.2 of the report and the finalisation of these arrangements be delegated to the Strategic Director – Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Asset Management.