The City Council has been informed that Thornfield Properties, the Council's development partner in the Silver Hill scheme, has been placed into administration.
The council understands that control of the company has been taken by its bank, Lloyds Banking Group. The bank has appointed a major national property company to review the schemes that Thornfield was bringing forward. WCC says it has no information on their view of the Silver Hill project at present but will have discussions with the administrator and its advisors as soon as possible.
Cllr George Beckett, Leader of the City Council said: "The Silver Hill scheme is of high quality and Winchester is an attractive retail proposition, but we have been well aware of the risk posed by the effect of the current recession on the commercial property market across the country. I am very disappointed by this news but it does not mean the end of our ambitions for the much needed regeneration of this area of our City. It is too early to speculate on what will happen next but we will review all of our options. I will be making a further statement to the Council at its meeting on Wednesday 13th January."
Prospective Winchester MP Steve Brine added; ““This is a huge blow and I suspect Thornfield are not the only development company to go bust in this recession but the fact remains this is an increasingly urgent regeneration project which the city needs to get underway without delay. To that end I hope councillors, of all colours, will now work together in the interests of Winchester to get Silver Hill back on track with a new partner, or partners, as soon as possible.”
Pictured; an artists impression of what the new Silver Hill might look like from Thornfield's existing plans.
More information ...
Visit the Silver Hill website - www.silverhill-winchester.info