Barton Farm is a natural resource of immense importance for the whole of Winchester. Bordering the northern limits of our city, it provides Winchester with both a defining boundary and an aesthetically pleasing introduction to this historic city.

The land was bought from Winchester College by Cala Homes for development.  It has been the subject of various planning applications from Cala Homes for a Major Development of at least 2,000 houses.

As part of the current (2009) Local Development Framework (LDF) process, Winchester City Council (WCC) has identified Barton Farm as a “Preferred Option” site for development.  The LDF covers a period of 20 years and the leader of WCC says identifying Barton Farm is the “least worst option.”

We say:

• The LDF is a short-term document (covering 20 years).  WCC is merely reacting to this and providing a "least-worst" solution to assuage their mis-guided sense of responsibility.  This is a knee-jerk, reactive response to housing numbers being imposed by central Government that might deal with the short-term requirement of complying with the LDF but will ultimately mean this is the "most harmful" approach for Winchester in the longer-term.

• Barton Farm serves Winchester as any of the Great Parks serve London – think of the outcry if development were proposed on Hyde Park or Regents Park.  Any development at Barton Farm would forever destroy the Winchester we all know and love today.  For example, there is no way Winchester could cope with the additional traffic generated by the development and any solution to mitigate this increased traffic flow would of itself, completer change Winchester’s character.

• Winchester is a jewel in the nation’s cultural and historical Crown and has a national and international reputation.  Winchester is different and special and therefore has to be dealt with individually, without blanket planning proposals.  Winchester needs and deserves a long term pro-active strategy to provide the Winchester that residents and the people of this country want.

• We propose a long-term plan for Winchester to take full advantage of the things that make Winchester special – its history, culture, arts and unrivalled landscape setting.  Of course this would need to address issues such as housing and employment but this should be done holistically as part of a long term, pro-active strategy rather than as currently proposed, a short-term reaction to nebulous housing numbers requested by central Government.  Winchester deserves better and if its elected representatives as a body will not stand-up for the defence of Winchester then we will.

To counter this threat, the SAVE BARTON FARM GROUP was established in 1998 by concerned Winchester residents to fight for the Farm’s and Winchester’s survival.  These are our aims:

• To act as a collective voice, in the absence of a Winchester Town Council and in the best democratic traditions, for the vast majority of local residents who do not want this precious national treasure that is Winchester lost forever in the pursuit of short-term financial gain for the few and short-term expediency in the face of nebulous housing targets

• To convince local and central government planning authorities, developers and landowners that sacrificing Barton Farm is neither appropriate nor necessary to meet the quotas for new housing currently being set for Winchester and Hampshire.

• To emphasise the environmental, commercial and sociological disaster awaiting Winchester should this development go ahead and to lobby for a long-term sustainable strategy for Winchester as such a development would destroy forever the very things that make Winchester nationally and internationally so special -  - it’s history, culture arts and unrivalled landscape setting.

THE SAVE BARTON FARM GROUP is already the largest community group in Winchester with over 5,000 signed-up supporters. However, to let those in power know how people feel about this threat to Winchester, we need to demonstrate as numerically large an opposition as possible. We also need help in various areas to help us sustain the campaign. Please visit our Contact page for further information of how you can help.