Following adoption of a new ‘Winchester Vision’, Winchester City Council are reviewing their design policy and guidance to ensure delivery of high-quality new development. In October, we facilitated a stakeholder workshop, with invited guests including local architects, planners, consultants, elected members and others from the public and private sectors. The objective was to discuss how well existing design policies and SPDs are working in terms of delivering the desired outcomes, and to identify any gaps in design policies.
This was followed by two open invitation spatial workshops for local communities to bring their knowledge and experience of their neighbourhoods to identify areas of opportunity and to share their aspirations for the future of their towns and villages. Over 100 people contributed to some very lively and passionate discussions.
A key takeaway was the need to focus on design as a process and to recognise that local voices must have a meaningful role within that process. Good design outcomes start with good local design policy, and information gathered from the workshops will feed into the review of Winchester’s Local Plan.
