Updates (Latest First)

Hampshire Chronicle article outlining the response from the Secretary of State

This letter confirms that any decision to change the decision on Andover Road is a local one.   Read the response here

As part of our campaign to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the closure of Andover Road we have written to  the Rt Hon. Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of the United Kingdom.  In this letter we request that he reviews and reconsiders the decision to close the road.  

Letter to Michael Gove MP

On 9th March Cllr Humby the Leader of Hampshire County Council (HCC) held a ‘Decision day’, which included their decision on the future of Andover Road.  

You can watch the recording of the meeting here (from 17 min 40) and the associated report with its recommendation from which the quotes in this email are taken is here.

KBRA were not permitted to address the meeting and our report re-stating our concerns was not circulated to councillors. 

The decision made by Cllr Humby and the HCC executive was to continue to work with CALA to design Winchester Avenue on the basis that Andover Road would CLOSE.

Obviously, this is hugely disappointing, but not unexpected, given the County Council’s position that as Highways Authority they do not have the power to undo the original planning consent and direct CALA to keep the road open.  Therefore, it is clear that without any further discussion and common sense intervention, CALA will now finalise the technical design of Winchester Avenue and the junctions at Well House Lane and Stoney Lane with HCC on the basis of closing Andover Road to ALL TRAFFIC.

From the report:  “17.  [CALA] The developer is obliged to deliver the new development spine road, termed Winchester Avenue, and associated junction changes prior to the occupation of 650 housing units in the development. Based on the developer’s estimates the highway changes are likely to be delivered around mid-2025.”

In order to complete by mid-2025 the designs will need to be approved in the next few months and work started shortly after that.

The only comfort we can take from the report was the statement… “20. As the County Council has done through the development of the [Winchester Movement Strategy] WMS, it will be appropriate for the County Council to continue to engage with all parties including the developer and Local Planning Authority to satisfy themselves that the closure of Andover Road to vehicular traffic as set out in the planning application is necessary.” 

However, it is not at all clear what actions HCC will be taking to do that.

From the report: “31. The technical work has shown the level of traffic flow anticipated to pass through the development would be around 10,000 vehicles. Many Hampshire streets of a similar type carry similar levels of traffic, so it is not unusual.  However, in a place-making context such traffic flows are not compatible with the ambitious vision originally set out by the developer for a 'shared space' (where there is little or no delineation or level difference between areas for vehicles and people) environment.” 

We have asked for and are still awaiting receiving a copy of the report containing this technical work. Our own assessment shows that the traffic on Winchester Avenue, including traffic generated by the Kings Barton Major Development Area (MDA) and the planned Sir John Moore development, could be as high as 20,000 vehicles per day. 

So as suggested by the report and with the existing approved design, those 20,000 vehicles would be routed through the heart of Kings Barton.

This is a greater flow of traffic than any single-carriageway road (like Winchester Avenue) is capable of carrying and therefore contrary to HCCs suggestion that “Many Hampshire streets of a similar type carry similar levels of traffic, so it is not unusual.”, we consider that the actual traffic flow is likely to be very unusual.

Finally, although the report states that “concerns about noise, air quality, severance and safety implications from traffic passing through the Barton Farm development were given due regard,” it is only given a cursory mention in the report.  

Bus priority routes

There have been suggestions both in the HCC Decision day report and in the Kings Barton News leaflet that may have been posted through your letterbox that Andover Road could be kept open for priority bus services associated with a planned Park-and-Ride service to the City Centre at the Sir John Moore Barracks site.  However, that is not possible with the approved junction design for Andover Road / Winchester Avenue and any change would require a new planning application to be submitted. 

From the report HCC also concedes that: “13. Introducing a bus priority corridor on Andover Road would be subject to engagement, technical assessment and a business case.”, but at present there is no sponsor or funding identified for any Bus priority measures along Andover Road and introducing this would be more difficult and costly should Andover Road be permanently closed to ALL traffic as planned.

KBRA is strongly pressing HCC to provide practical bus services to Kings Barton as previously agreed in the KB Travel Plan.  More on this topic in another KBRA update. 

KBRA's Position

We cannot agree with the view that HCC’s Decision gives certainty to CALA and Hampshire County Council Highways Department on the issues of road surfaces, kerbs, junctions and crossings. These issues had remained unresolved by CALA and HCC for many years before KBRA highlighted the need to keep Andover Road open to traffic and for Winchester Avenue to be designed in accordance with ‘Manual for Streets’.

Over the last few weeks we have been pressing hard at the Kings Barton Forum and directly with WCC, HCC and CALA for all parties to come together to review the situation, but sadly, that still hasn’t happened despite us presenting your common concerns and frustration at the closure. 

We plan to continue pressing hard on your behalf.

KBRA met with Cllr Heron (Exec Lead for Transport and Environment) on 27th September in Kings Barton where we discussed the approved planning consent and closure of Andover Road.  Mirroring his comments in the petition response (below) Cllr Heron agreed to arrange a meeting between Hampshire County Council (HCC), Winchester City Council (WCC) and CALA to review our concerns, however no such meeting has taken place, which is hugely disappointing.

In the absence of any progress Mike Slinn spoke at the Kings Barton forum on 13th October in order to clarify the mechanism to prompt such a meeting and it was agreed that HCC must take the lead role, during the discussion Cllr Todd (Leader of WCC and member of HCC) committed that WCC “would do whatever it takes to resolve the impasse and make sure that we have properly thought through options” [for Andover Road, Winchester Avenue and surrounding roads].

The Kings Barton Forum website is here and you can watch the 13th October recording here.

Next Steps:

In line with the KB Forum direction we have followed up with a formal letter to Cllr Ed Heron suggesting that the current approved design should be modified to keep Andover Road as the main (direct) route, but that it should be significantly improved, keeping the intended addition of formal cycle ways and improved footpaths.  At the same time, the issue of safety (addressed in part by the installation of the Puffin crossing close to the access for Henry Beaufort School) should be bolstered by further crossing points and a general reduction in speed limits. We are awaiting a response to this and we will also put the same suggestions to both WCC and CALA ahead of the requested meeting.

You can read our letter or 8th November to Cllr Ed Heron here:

We are advised that in order to modify the current proposal, a new planning application would need to be submitted by CALA under Section 73 of the planning act and are working with WCC Community and Development officer Naomi Arnold to understand the implications of this more fully.  We have yet to meet formally with CALA, but understand their position is that submitting a new application would require them to comply with legislation introduced since 2013 on control of phosphate and nitrates, increasing their costs.

We continue to believe that a compromise can be reached whereby we can be assured that our community will grow safely and healthily, whilst maintaining good direct access to Winchester and we do not believe that the approved proposal, in its current form, achieves that goal and will continue to push HCC to bring parties together.

You can read the LHPC letter  to Cllr Edward Heron in which  they declare their support for the KBRA petition and which states their desire  to keep the Andover Road open here.

KBRA wrote to Cllr Martin Tod to confirm our request and outline our proposal for a compromise option. 

You can read the letter here

Cllr Ed Heron