Guidance Note:
Protecting the Garrison Ground
The Garrison Ground at Bar End is a vital sport and recreational resource for the
people of Winchester and District. It is home to the Winchester District Girls
Football League, Winchester City Flyers FC, and Winchester Amateur Boxing
Club. It is also used by many other local clubs and teams, including Winchester
and District Athletics Club for grass training. It’s a kickabout and play area, and is
used by many local dog walkers.
The Garrison Ground also hosts a wide range of community events. In recent
years, these have included Sports Festivals and the ‘Race for Life’ organized by
Cancer Research UK.
The Garrison Ground is visible in the photograph below as the grassed area to
the right of the B3404 and north of Chilcomb Lane.
However, the Garrison Ground is now under threat. It is owned by Tesco
PLC, who bought it from the Ministry of Defence in the late 1980s with plans to
develop a supermarket and petrol station there. These plans met with significant
local opposition, and Tesco developed a superstore in Winnall instead. Since
then, the Garrison Ground has formed part of Tesco’s huge UK landbank. It is
currently leased to Winchester City Council, which handles bookings and
maintains the pitches and pavilion at the ground – BUT now Tesco is looking at
disposal options and has listed it in the Winchester District Strategic Housing
Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA). This means that, although the land is
zoned as ‘countryside’ and ‘open space’, it has been put forward for
consideration by Winchester City Council as a plot to be allocated for future
housing development through the Local Plan Part 2 process.
Nobody we have spoken to in Winchester wants to see housing development on
the Garrison Ground. Local people value it as a site for sport and recreation, and
recognize that it also plays an important role as part of the floodplain, absorbing
water from the surrounding area during periods of heavy rain. Many people
would welcome improvements to the Garrison Ground and the Bar End area
more broadly through investments in new sports and leisure facilities, and would
like to see Tesco support this. Regardless of the potential for investment, though,
if local people want to protect the Garrison Ground as a sport and recreational
asset, and ensure that it does not become yet another housing estate, we will
have to act.
What can you do?
There are several things we can do as local residents to secure the Garrison
Ground for sport and recreational use long-term.
There are, for example, community powers granted to us through the Localism
Act and the National Planning Policy Framework, which we can use if and when
we need to.
In the near term, there are two actions that we’d recommend to local people.
1. Responding to the consultation on Local Plan Part 2
The Winchester City Council consultation on Local Plan Part 2, which focuses on
local development needs and site allocations, is happening NOW.
Plans for Winchester Town were open for comment until 4th April 2014 but you
can still comment. This is the relevant set of plans with respect to the Garrison
Ground – although there are several others for areas surrounding Winchester
Town, which you may want to view and comment on too!
To comment, you can email ldf@winchester.gov.uk or post your comments to
Strategic Planning, Winchester City Council, Colebrook Street, Winchester,
Hampshire, SO23 9LJ.
We recommend you email your comments, and copy your email to your local city
councillors. You can find out who your councillor is (note that your Ward may
have more than one) by searching the WCC database using your postcode.
2. Writing to Tesco and Miller Homes
Local people can also write letters to members of Tesco’s Board and Executive
Committee, encouraging them to work with our community and its institutions,
particularly community sports clubs, to secure the Garrison Ground for long-term
sport and recreational use. You may also wish to stress your opposition to
housing development on that land, if that’s how you feel.
You can find out more about the Tesco PLC Board and Executive Committee on
their website.
There are several members of the Board and Executive Committee that
Winchester residents can write to:
 Chair - Sir Richard Broadbent
 Chief Executive - Philip Clarke
 UK Managing Director - Chris Bush
 Property Director - Steve Rigby
 Group Corporate Affairs Director (responsible for CSR) - Rebecca Shelley
All can be contacted by letter via Tesco headquarters:
New Tesco House
Delamare Road, Cheshunt,
Hertfordshire, England
EN8 9SL
Telephone: 0800 505555
Now that Tesco has listed the Garrison Ground as an asset for disposal, it is
being dealt with by:
Asset Disposal
Tesco Stores Ltd
PO Box 400
Cirrus Building
Shire Park
Welwyn Garden City
AL7 1AB
Miller Homes is the property developer liaising with Tesco about the disposal
and development of the Garrison Ground. The matter is being handled by their
Basingstoke office:
Miller Homes Southern Office
Spinnaker House
Lime Tree Way
Chineham
Basingstoke
RG24 8GG
General Enquiries: 0870 336 4200
A recent FOI request to Winchester City Council revealed that Council officers
met three times with Miller Homes in 2013, to discuss their house building plans
for the Garrison Ground. You may wish to ask your local city councillor(s) about
this, and about any conversations the Council has had with Tesco regarding the
Garrison Ground.
Winchester Fit for the Future
March 2014