WINCHESTER civic chiefs are set to announce their partner in a major revamp of the city centre.

The council leader has pledged that the new scheme will avoid the disaster of the previous collapsed scheme.

The city council in 2021 relaunched its redevelopment of Central Winchester, centred on Silver Hill and has been seeking a developer.

Councillors on the scrutiny committee are to discuss the development at a meeting tomorrow evening, February 27 in the Guildhall starting at 6.30pm. Because of the level of expected public interest the committee is being held in the large King Charles Suite.

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The identity of the development partner will be revealed soon and an agreement signed to guide the scheme.

The previous scheme fell apart in 2016 following a legal challenge by Cllr Kim Gottlieb.

City council leader Martin Tod said the Lib Dem-controlled authority had learned the lessons of that fiasco highlighted by the Claer Lloyd-Jones report.

Cllr Tod told the Council meeting that safeguards are in place: "We start from a very different place from where we were in 2004 (when the first Silver Hill started with developer Thornfield). We  start from a position of ownership of most of the site, a clearly defined Supplementary Planning Document which is deeply baked into the process and much more transparent governance.

"Re-reading the 2004 development agreement there is nothing about governance, shocking and very different to what we have now."

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Cllr Tod said that as landowner the council would have to approve a scheme even before it went to the planning committee. The site comprises land between Frtiarsgate and The Broadway. In recent years the city council has bought the bus station, Friarsgate Medical Centre and Kings Walk.

"There will be a lot more control and a lot more democratic scrutiny, and a lot more power as we own the land. That leaves us in a position where we are able to safeguard the city's interests."

The scrutiny committee, chaired by Conservative councillor Caroline Brook will feedback its opinions to the Cabinet committee meeting on Monday March 6.

A report to the scrutiny committee said: "This report details the outcome of the comprehensive procurement process undertaken to find a Development Partner that shares the council’s vision and values to deliver a vibrant, creative mixed-use quarter in the heart of the city in order to support the long term economic and social future of Winchester and the wider district."