Hundreds march against development at Barton Farm and hear Steve Brine's pledge to abolish Labour's housing targets.
Winchester residents turned out in force this morning (Saturday 14 March 2009) to protest at plans which could see major development on Barton Farm.
- Steve Brine TV - watch a two-part short film made by Steve and his team at the march and see Steve's speech from the steps of the Guildhall. www.stevebrine.tv
The greenfield site, which sits just outside of the city centre on Andover Road, has been under almost constant threat of being built upon since it was designated a ‘reserve’ site under the existing Winchester Local Plan by Winchester City Council (WCC) in the early 1990’s.
The threat has returned in earnest with the publication by WCC of their Local Development Framework. The LDF must make provision for development across the District through until 2026 and it must comply with a central government edict to ensure 12,500 houses are built during that time.
Protesters, led by the Save Barton Farm Group, vented their opposition by rallying at the city’s Westgate. They then marched to the city’s guildhall, where a number of speakers addressed the crowd.
On the guildhall steps, Gavin Blackman, who chairs the protest group, called on the city council to think again. “Let us show the council what we think. Let’s save Barton Farm and let’s save Winchester,” he said.
Prospective Winchester MP Steve Brine followed - and flanked by Winchester MP Mark Oaten along with other local politicians - made an impassioned plea to save Barton Farm from the bulldozers.
After thanking Gavin Blackman and the Save Barton Farm Group for organising the event and the protesters for turning out he said; “Winchester is my home and it will be so whatever happens to me after the next election. I am bringing up a young family here so this matters to me as much as it does to you. I have never been in favour of 2,000 houses on this site or 2,000 houses on any site around our city. Barton Farm is part of the landscape setting that we all cherish and we will fight to protect it”, he said.
Steve went onto confirm a pledge made by David Cameron in Winchester just before Christmas that an incoming Conservative Government will abolish regional planning and central housing targets and allow council’s such as Winchester to revise their Local Development Frameworks in the light of this move. See more on this new Conservative policy at point two in Campaign Links below.
He added; “This is therefore not just a policy for tomorrow it is a policy for today. We will abolish these targets if we form the next Government so the show of strength today is vital because it allows WCC to prove that ‘heavy heart’ and revisit their LDF if David Cameron becomes Prime Minister and is therefore in a position to bring this policy into law.
Steve concluded by saying; “I have always supported you and I always will, this is far from over so thanks for being here today!”
Pictured; Steve Brine addressing the crowd on the steps of Winchester Guildhall.
CAMPAIGN LINKS
- You can visit the Save Barton Farm group here.
- Steve Brine TV - you can watch Steve's film from the march and see his speech from outside the Guildhall here.
- You can download the full 'Control Shift' document here (opens a PDF file in a new window; see section 5).
- You can also catch a short-film from when David Cameron launched the Control Shift ‘green paper’ via Steve Brine TV