POLICYMAKERS have approved a £400 million capital programme for Winchester over the next ten years to 2031. The Cabinet at the city council plan to spend the money on bricks and mortar over the next decade. Among the schemes in the programme are the new sports and leisure centre due to open this spring; tackling the climate emergency and creating a greener district, £17m; housing, £340m, including £239m on building 1,000 affordable homes; creating a vibrant local economy, £36.7m. Some £500,000 will be spent on demolishing the Friarsgate medical centre and clearing the area for an interim open space before future development in the Silver Hill scheme. Demolition will save on business rates and maintaining the empty building, estimated at £64,000 a year.
Winchester Guildhall. Inset: Cllr Neil Cutler THE political battle over Winchester City Council s latest budget surged on at a recent cabinet meeting. Councillors unanimously approved the spending plan – but not without heavy debate between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems. Leader of the Tories on the council, Cllr Caroline Horrill, opened debate with a scathing review. She said: Yes it has been a tough year for everyone. Our council is still supporting the arts, grants to community groups, providing sports and leisure facilities and still working towards the climate emergency. Yet we still have strong reserves – but residents must pay at every turn.
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The age-old debate came up once again at a recent scrutiny committee. Chairman of the performance panel Cllr Caroline Horrill gave a brief verbal update on the group s findings. She was met with a swarm questions from committee members – most doubting the transparency of the panel s documents. Cllr Dominic Hiscock said: I know these documents are publicly available, but when did the public get a chance to comment in consultation? They were uploaded to the website just a couple days before this meeting. In response Cllr Horrill said: All documents flow through the process. The point of the panel is to analyse these documents, spending hours, and summarising them for you in this committee.