Contact: Nick Richardson, ext 5429

1. Summary

The following decisions are sought:

(i) That Cabinet confirms its intention to pursue the implementation of the Bar End Park-and-Ride extension at the earliest opportunity.

(ii) That Cabinet authorises a review of the five potential mitigation sites identified by the Secretary of State followed by a further submission to the Regulatory Committee for approval of the details to discharge Condition No. 5 of the planning permission for the park-and-ride extension at Bar End, Winchester (Permission Nos. W/03011/01 and W/03011/05), once a site or sites have been selected.

2. Reason

2.1 Following a High Court judgement, previous decisions made in relation to the selection and management of land in mitigation for the proposed park-and-ride extension have been quashed. Confirmation of the County Council's strategy in relation to park-and-ride is sought. In order to implement the scheme, approval is sought to submit proposals to the Regulatory Committee to consider details regarding land in mitigation. A further report will be made in the new year on proposals to be submitted, following re-evaluation of sites.

2.2 Counsel's advice has been sought and further consideration by the Regulatory Committee is required to progress the park-and-ride extension. An appeal has been lodged with the Court of Appeal against the High Court's decision.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 The options of not appealing or of altering the park and ride strategy have been rejected.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by ...................................... Date ....................................

Councillor T K Thornber

Contact: Nick Richardson, ext 5429

1. Summary

1.1 Following a High Court judgment, previous decisions made by the County Council in relation to the selection and management of land in mitigation for the proposed park-and-ride extension at Bar End, Winchester have been quashed. In order to proceed with the park-and-ride scheme, for which planning permission has been obtained, subject to conditions, approval is sought to submit proposals to the Regulatory Committee for mitigation land (see confidential Appendix 1) following Counsel's advice. An appeal has also been lodged with the Court of Appeal.

2. Current Position

2.1 Park-and-ride is an important element of the Winchester Movement and Access Plan and offers significant benefits in relieving traffic movements in the city centre. With the development of park-and-ride capacity, opportunities exist to improve traffic conditions in the city centre and provide further measures to support public transport, walking and cycling. Park-and-ride facilities are envisaged for a number of radial routes into Winchester on a sequential basis. Initially, the strategy is to extend the pilot park-and-ride scheme at Bar End. The County Council is seeking to bring forward Bushfield Camp as the next park-and-ride site to serve Winchester, with the aim to meet the demand to travel into the city from the south. Feasibility investigations have been completed for off-site works, but issues exist over land acquisition and planning policy. Officers from Winchester City Council and the County Council are considering the way forward with a view to brief Members in spring 2003. The County Council continues to receive pressure and support from the business community to bring this site forward at the earliest opportunity.

2.2 The proposed park-and-ride car park extension at Bar End, Winchester was granted planning permission in October 1998 following a Public Local Inquiry in late 1997. The site for the extension is on land previously part of the former Winchester bypass, which was restored as mitigation land for the M3 route past Winchester. Planning permission was granted, subject to a number of conditions some of which required further approval. However, a Judicial Review brought by a member of the public has challenged the validity of the County Council's approval of mitigation land at Magdalen Hill Down in fulfilment of Condition No. 5. The High Court judgement of 21 November 2002 quashed both the resolutions of the then Asset Management Sub-Committee on 9 July 2001 and the Regulatory Committee on 29 May 2002, relating to the selection of land in mitigation for the park-and-ride site and the details pertaining to Condition No. 5 of the planning application. The main reason for quashing the decisions was that the County Council should have made decisions in its planning committee capacity and not in its role as developer.

2.3 Accordingly, Cabinet is asked to approve submission of details relating to the potential mitigation sites to the Regulatory Committee to satisfy Condition 5.

3. Land in Mitigation

3.1 Five potential mitigation sites were identified at the Public Local Inquiry, endorsed by the Secretary of State and subsequently considered by the High Court. The sites are identified on the attached plan and the ownership and availability position regarding these five sites is set out in the table below. The sites were ranked by the Inspector reporting to the Secretary of State in terms of their ecological potential (see Appendix 2) and accessibility to the residents of Winchester.

Potential Mitigation Sites

3.2 These five sites were all considered by the Inspector to be acceptable in ecological and landscape terms:

"I conclude that, in terms of ecological value to Winchester and its setting, four of the five sites are acceptable replacements for that area of the former bypass which would be lost should this development go ahead. The inferior accessibility balances the increased ecological potential for all except Site 11. My preference would be first for Sites 4 and 8 which are both close to Bar End and also to an important SSSI, then Sites 3 and 7, and lastly Site 11."

(Inspector's Report, paragraph 8.52)

3.3 The Secretary of State advised the County Council, in his decision letter, that:

"No development shall take place until there has been submitted to and approved by the local planning authority a scheme for the provision and management of alternative grassland (in mitigation for the 2.66 hectares which will be lost as result of implementation of the permission hereby granted) on one of the sites marked 3, 4, 7, 8 or 11 on Plan 1 attached to Inquiry Document H3. The scheme shall be implemented as so approved."

(Secretary of State's decision letter, paragraph 19(v))

3.4 The table indicates that of the five Sites, Site 4 is unavailable in that the owner is unwilling to sell, terms cannot be agreed for Site 3 and Site 8 has very extensive and costly remediation requirements. Site 7 is now under the ownership of the County Council. Site 11 has been recognised as being too remote from Bar End to be suitable when compared with the other four sites. Given that some of the sites were either not available or the owners were unwilling to sell, any formal route to acquire one of the above sites would have been long and drawn out. There are clear difficulties in acquiring Sites 3, 4 and 8 particularly in terms of the time required to negotiate or compulsorily acquire. In the event that such compulsory acquisition were pursued, a Compulsory Purchase Order is unlikely to result in a successful outcome for the County Council, given the existence of an alternative site. Even if this approach were adopted, in view of the likely objections and timescale, such a course of action would be likely to frustrate the implementation of the planning permission which the Secretary of State could not have intended when granting permission in 1998. This would have delayed the implementation of the park-and-ride extension or undermined the objective to provide the mitigation land contemporaneously, or as near as possible, with the area being lost at Bar End in accordance with the planning consent. The current owners of the sites 3, 4 and 8 are being approached again to see if the position indicated in the table has changed. This leaves Site 7 at Magdalen Hill Down as the only immediately available site. Site 7 is located close to the residential area of Winnall on the eastern side of Winchester. Access for disabled people to the site could be reviewed if the site were to be selected as land in mitigation.

3.5 A Management Plan for the Magdalen Hill Down was published in April 2002 as part of the original planning application and submitted to the Regulatory Committee on 29 May 2002. This Management Plan remains in place and has been supported by all the interests involved in the site, particularly in terms of the relationship between the site and the adjacent butterfly reserve.

3.6 The potential ecological value of the various sites will be reassessed prior to a further report to Cabinet and submissions to the Regulatory Committee. Further discussions will also be held with the owners of Sites 4, 8 and 3 to reassess whether the availability of the sites has changed.

4. Conclusion

4.1 Park-and-ride is an important element of the Winchester Movement and Access Plan and offers significant benefits in relieving traffic movements in the city centre. The wider role of park-and-ride includes the development of sites on other radial routes once the main corridor of demand is addressed by the extension of the Bar End facility.

4.2 The five sites considered by the Secretary of State to be acceptable mitigation land will be considered by Regulatory Committee in terms of the requirements of the High Court judgement taking into account cost and availability.

Recommendation

That Cabinet authorises a submission to the Regulatory Committee for the approval of the details to discharge Condition No. 5 of the planning permission for the park-and-ride extension at Bar End, Winchester (Permission Nos. W/03011/01 and W/03011/05).

7658/NR

APPENDIX 1 (Confidential) Note from Council.

APPENDIX 2 (not confidential) Criteria for the Selection of a Mitigation Site for the Loss of Chalk Grassland at Bar End; and

list of Sites Considered for Chalk Grassland Mitigation.

APPENDIX 3 (Confidential) Remediation Requirements and Costs for Site 8: Land East of St Catherine's Hill.

APPENDIX 4 (Confidential) Land Adjoining Magdalen Hill Down at Alresford Road; and

correspondence with agents acting for Church Commissioners.