Dever Society response to Winchester’s Your Place Your Plan Strategic Issues and Priorities consultation

Unnecessary, unwanted and the worst option for the environment says the Dever Society

The Dever Society has submitted its response to the City Council’s first consultation on its new Local Plan. The response strongly rejects the option of a large new town in Winchester District as a way of building the new homes Winchester is required by the government to provide. The response concludes that this option (Option 3 in the consultation document) is by far the most unsustainable option of the four options put forward, with the biggest environmental impact and the greatest risk in terms of delivery. Option 3 puts the proposed new town at Micheldever squarely in the frame.

The response focuses on the environmental and other disadvantages of large new towns in the countryside, including:

• New towns in the countryside are the most carbon intensive option and put at risk the Council’s carbon neutrality goal.

• New towns encourage car use and their layouts often discourage walking and cycling.

• Free-standing new settlements on greenfield sites waste scarce land in this densely populated country.

• Building new towns in the countryside destroys and degrades biodiversity.

• A new town would adversely Impact Winchester District’s landscape and its historic settlement pattern.

• The loss of large areas of countryside threatens its crucial role in the provision of ecosystem services and benefits such as water, food, flood control, recreation and health and well-being.

• A large new town in Winchester District would be a fundamental change to the District’s rural character.

• The high cost of providing the required infrastructure from scratch is costly both in environmental and investment terms.

• Delivery of such large developments planned for so many years into the future is risky and unpredictable.

• The delivery of large numbers of affordable homes is not guaranteed.

• A large new town would have economic and traffic impacts on Winchester.

The response uses examples from Micheldever to make its case against Option 3. We also reject Option 4, which is to distribute the required housing around the District. We believe this option would mean more car-dependent communities and too much pressure on existing infrastructure.

To read our response, click here.

For more information on Winchester’s new Local Plan, click here.