A MAJOR Winchester organisation has said changes to a city regeneration projects do not go far enough.

The City of Winchester Trust (CWT), which works to protect the city’s heritage and culture, issued the comments after cabinet member for local economy Cllr Anne Weir outlined change to the height of the Station Approach scheme, as well as plans to reduce the amount of planned parking by more than a quarter.

As previously reported, the changes will see nearly 30 per cent fewer parking spaces on the site than originally planned, as well as a slight reduction in height, a factor which caused the collapse of the original Station Approach project several years ago.

Commenting on the changes, CWT chairman Keith Leaman said: “The trust urges the new administration to instruct officers to secure further changes to the Carfax proposal before the application is approved and before the site is sold off to a developer. This is the only way to prevent a development which is unsustainable and too large.”

The scheme, estimated to cost £159m, is set transform the area around the railway station, creating 17,000 sq ft of retail, cafe and restaurant space.

Civic chiefs estimate it will provide an £81million boost to the local economy and create 1,000 jobs.

The application is expected to go before a city council planning committee by the end of October.