THE council has agreed to pause plans to redevelop part of Winklebury over concerns surrounding the future health care provision.

Vivid has been working with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Hampshire County Council and the NHS to create the plan.

The scheme includes 206 new homes, of which 40 per cent will be affordable; a large new community park at the former Fort Hill School site; a play facility; healthcare centre; and new local shops and small business space.

SEE MORE: Hundreds sign petition calling for halt on regeneration plans over concerns medical centre is too small

Last week, as final plans were shared concerns were raised about the size of the medical hub and its ability to cope with the thousands of new homes.

The Winklebury and Manydown Community Action Group (WMCAG) submitted a petition to the council last night (March 24) to ask them to pause plans.

Mark Peters, chair of the group, presented the 840-signature petition.

He said: “Residents don’t want a health centre that has been shoehorned into a location that is obviously too small and subject to massive traffic congestion and in yards of where a young child and her mother were recently injured by a vehicle struggling to get passed cars.”

Cllr Abigail Compton-Burnett, who is also a former nurse, called on the council to pause plans and the motion was passed with 28 votes to 11.

She said: “Winklebury is home to over six thousand residents and contains within it deprived areas with poor health outcomes in almost every health and care indicator.

“The motion hopes to bring the CCG, Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, local stakeholders and residents together to review the plans and by working together build something much better.”

She said what is currently planned “fails to meet what is proposed by the NHS” and hopes there is a better alternative.

Fellow Winklebury ward councillor Sean Dillow agreed with the statement and said, “It is nothing to be frightened of”.

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Others shared their reservations.

Cllr Tristan Robinson added: “We are in touching distance of a planning application and we should be terrified of a review after spending ten years getting partnerships to get together on this and not risk it all.

“What we will say to the people of Winklebury and the local business promised new premises, what will we say to the residents who need accommodation, that we did not make the brave decisions and we failed them.”

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