Once the ancient capital of England and the former seat of King Alfred the Great, Winchester is in the midst of tackling a series of more modern challenges head-on.

In our recent webinar, Councillor Martin Tod, Leader of Winchester City Council, shares his insights on how the historic city is sensitively moving with the times.

Addressing affordability and housing challenges

With average house prices at 14 times the average salary, the notably high cost of living in Winchester means that proactive housing solutions are crucial.

In the webinar, Cllr Tod discussed the council’s efforts to build more council houses and purchase significant amounts of properties, including at the major Barton Farm development.

He also stressed the importance of creating a city where everyone can live, not just the affluent older demographic with others commuting in and out for work, but rather a balanced community with lower-cost private rental and secure social housing tenancies. New housing developments will also be expected to conform to strict standards for affordability and sustainability.

Transport infrastructure and climate change strategies

Given the city’s largely Anglo-Saxon street plan, together with increased commuting numbers, traffic congestion remains a significant challenge for Winchester.

An expansion of the city’s park and ride services are one of the council’s solutions, along with efforts to balance walking, cycling and public transport with urban development, improving connections between places and driving support to local business and industry.

For climate action, there is a commitment to retrofitting council houses and ensuring new development is sustainable, as well as improving local air and water quality. While from an economic point of view, the council is focusing on supporting the creation of green jobs with an emphasis on securing investments in decarbonisation.

Economic growth and job diversification

For the next 15-20 years, the council’s future vision for Winchester is to attract the AI and tech industries to the city. With the decline of public sector jobs, Cllr Tod focused on the importance of diversifying and forward-planning, with strategic initiatives to support the growth of new businesses and industries, underpinned by Winchester’s strong education footprint comprising the Universities of Southampton and Winchester as well as Peter Symonds and Sparsholt Colleges.

Devolution and local government reorganisation

On the hot topic of devolution, Cllr Tod explains that the request has been made to government for the Hampshire and Solent area to become a combined authority, including Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. The new combined authority will be led by a mayor, with powers transferred from national government and current councils to this new strategic body, covering areas such as transport, skills and employment, housing and strategic planning, regeneration funding, business support and climate initiatives.

A proposal will be submitted to central government later this year, with the first mayoral election expected to occur in May 2026, aiming to create a more coordinated approach to regional development, similar to the model seen in Manchester.

The proposed combined authority will cover an area from Andover to Aldershot, down to Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, representing a population and economic area larger than Wales, which Councillor Tod claims deserves significant strategic representation and a good strategic plan in place, regardless of the changes in local government.

Cllr Tod also confirmed the current aspirations Government has set for the timetable for local government reorganisation, the authorities that will sit underneath the combined authority. Discussions remain ongoing between council leaders, but it was suggested that we should expect Hampshire to reorganise into just four unitary authorities, each representing about 500,000 people. Shadow elections for these authorities will take place in 2027, with the unitary officially coming into being on 1 April 2028. Crucially, the local plans in place for the current local authorities will remain the policy for the area until the unitary and/or combined authority plan is in place to replace it.

Committing to positive change

Rounding off the webinar, Cllr Tod reaffirmed Winchester’s commitment to sustainability, economic growth and affordability.

With continued engagement and adaptation to government policies, the council is strategically planning for the future, supporting diversification of industry, improved connectivity and increased affordability to shape the city as a balanced and thriving community for all.

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