Winchester is changing. That is happening too fast for some and nowhere near fast enough for others.
As the local MP, I think the city must change – we’ve a chronic lack of affordable housing, decaying sports facilities and risk driving businesses away – but we should remember why, just last week, we were ranked so highly in the Royal Society for the Arts Heritage Index.
The Winchester economy matters to us all; via the jobs it creates, the cash available to fund our local public services and a vibrant thriving city centre. But quality of life matters as much as quantity of wealth.
Earlier this year I ruffled a few feathers when I said, at a business breakfast, that the new leadership at our City Council must drive through its big projects so Winchester regains its reputation for competence and a place where things get done. Under the new leadership at Winchester City Council, things look promising.
As readers of the Hampshire Chronicle will know, council leader Caroline Horrill confirmed last week that the £34m scheme to build a new leisure centre at Bar End will go ahead. Due by 2020, and complete with an Olympic sized swimming pool, this is good news on the first of the ‘big 3’ that also includes station approach and the central Winchester regeneration.
These big ticket items are crucial if the city is to meet its challenges and become a good bet for investors once again. The council has learned the lessons of the recent past and is working hard to take residents with it while facing down the sneering, often politically driven, cynicism which kills any meaningful attempt to improve Winchester.
If station approach can finally be realised, working with organisations such as BID and the invaluable City of Winchester Trust, we will finally address the shortfall in office space that has blighted the city for so long.
Finally, the central Winchester regeneration project promises to complete this holy trinity of fresh start. JTP’s community planning weekend, which starts this evening, should ensure this is a crowd sourced overhaul for the area that currently shames our heritage city.
I urge my constituents to take part and challenge everyone who rightly felt Winchester deserves better to get involved and then get behind this new vision. We have the people in Winchester to do this and, with a City Council that has its mojo back, I am positive about the future.
As a country post-Brexit we need to pull together, not pull apart as some would have. The same is true of Winchester.
Steve Brine MP
