Flood Alert from 9 April; valid until 16 April
Jackie Porter
Liberal Democrat Councillor, Charity Trustee and Campaigner Learn more
Flood Alert received 4 March 24 for The Worthys, Easton, Chilland and other areas
Popham proposal in Basingstoke Draft Plan
Flood Alert from 9 April; valid until 16 April
Flood Alert received 4 March 24 for The Worthys, Easton, Chilland and other areas
Popham proposal in Basingstoke Draft Plan
New leisure centre for Winchester- what do you think?
by Jackie Porter on 10 September, 2015
After the controversy of last year, the Conservative city council has had a rethink-and now a complete turnaround, and they now plan to build a £29million leisure centre at Bar End.
What do you think..?
You can read the Hants Chron article here:-
http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/13654207.Have_your_say_on___29m_plans_for_Winchester_leisure_centre/?ref=ebmpn
But, although it’s useful to tell the Hampshire Chronicle, it’s probably even more important to tell your councillors!
Please let me know what you think- and how the old centre could be used?
I think it’s a good idea.I’d like the new facility to include a youth centre and summer lido…that would be a great Olympic legacy- and provide enough capacity for the Penguins too.
4 Comments
I am all in favour of providing up to date and modern sports and leisure facilities. However I find it hard to justify the difference between £6m to update the present River Park location and about £30m to move to a new site at Bar End.
With the building of 2000 new houses at Barton Farm, I don’t think it makes sense to move the leisure centre to the opposite side of Winchester.
I believe the project is being driven by vested interest from property developers and building contractors.
As a resident of Highcliffe I welcome redevelopment of the Bar End site, but am concerned about the extra noise and traffic this will bring. The Bar End site is not big enough to contain the new leisure centre, and so other land will need to be built on or covered with tarmac in order to provide a complete facility.
I do not think that alternative uses for the Bar End site (such as housing) have been seriously considered.
Very concerned with the dismissal of river park as an option. For tranparency this is my preferred option. Moving the centre from a central Winchester location to a corner will have impacts on usage and the only option for me is to drive to it. Further the combination of a visit to town and takings the kids to the leisure centre will now involve a car trip. Central Winchester provides best access hence the current site.
But my concerns are mainly with the process : Was the consultation process fair and representative? as a registered paid up member for 10 yrs I have not been consulted, no email, no letter etc. I appreciate a number of sports clubs have been involved but is that representative. Further there has been no details that I am aware of displayed in river park. I would have expected more open dialog with the user community of the centre.
Further concerns around the council instructing the external consultants not to provide a recommendation. Disappointed with choice of external partnerships which have a vested interest in a preferred option from the start of the process. This bias concerns me. Particularly the decision to court the university of Winchester who from the start have been open that they will only support one option. I would also like to understand further details of the financing. Purchasing part of a site from Tesco the cost details vs the solely owned site and information on the future plans for river park to be made more clear as this is very close. Again the choice of partnership and bias in this process if this site was then sold to the university. Bar end of course does seem a fair option to consider but it appears to have been a foregone conclusion from start. As this will have such a significant impact on the future of Winchester for decades thie process the council has been following I would question as been bais and limited from the start.
Thanks Paul- I understand your concerns- and the future of the old site is far from certain. I will try to add more to my website if it goes ahead..but we are told by the conservative leaders that the reality is the old site , even if upgraded is just too old and a drain on WCC finances.
Mind you- we all accepted that when the new one was going to cost £23m… now it seems that £38m is the cost of the new one. And we will still need something at River Park for changing, toilet etc. What would you have done in these circumstances Paul? I would appreciate your view.
I have used the Riverside gym with my wife for 20 years since there was just 1 running machine. I have run over 100 marathons so I know a thing or two about fitness. People need to be able to fit fitness around a busy lifestyle and many visit the centre at lunchtime or after work I think the proposals will be the death of sport in Winchester because who wants to train near a major motorway and the location is bad for workers in the town .May be the gym should be left at the current location and expanded so workers can still use it at midday.