Our online survey allows residents to influence the design of 60 acres of new green open space, which will become fully accessible to the people of Winchester

Following consultation with local residents, stakeholders and the wider population of Winchester, The Church Commissioners for England, in partnership with Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and Gisborne, have committed as part of the current planning application to protect and provide circa 60 acres of Bushfield Camp as publicly accessible green space.

Currently, only a small proportion of the former army camp has permissible access. However, our future proposals will open over 60 acres of land, creating a new publicly accessible and biodiverse green space for Winchester.

We have launched a public online survey to better understand local aspirations, inform the future use and management of the legacy land, and to maximise its positive ecological potential.

The results from the survey will help to guide the future of Bushfield Camp’s expansive green space, which – subject to planning approval – underpin the development team’s commitment to safeguarding the legacy land for the people of Winchester.

Through the new online survey, we are hoping to understand how we can work with the community to maximise the future potential of Bushfield’s green space. Click here to take part in the survey.

The survey asks residents what they would like to see incorporated as part of the land, to help us shape an appropriate structure for managing the land moving forward.

John Weir, Head of Real Estate for The Church Commissioners for England said: “The launch of the online survey is testament to our commitment to place community at the heart of the vision for Bushfield.”

“Across more than half a dozen public consultation events, city-centre stands and online feedback, we’ve gathered a diverse range of ideas from the public for this significant piece of land. We want to gather even more local insight to support our commitment to the long-term stewardship of our estates, in order to achieve greener growth.”

“At Bushfield, this means implementing sympathetic development and delivering best-practice management of the natural surroundings. Done well, it’s an approach which will deliver a wealth of benefits, enabling communities to thrive for generations to come.”

Ben Rodgers, Head of Regeneration for LGIM Real Assets division, added: “Engaging with the community via this survey, we hope to fully realise Bushfield’s potential as a best-in-class employment-led campus.”

“By providing legal access to the green space, we want to not only maximise Bushfield’s social and economic impact, but also the environmental opportunity.”

“We look forward to working with the local and broader communities to understand the long-term legacy that they want to see delivered for the open space in this new quarter for the city.”

Serving as a military training ground until 1979, Bushfield Camp was left unused for more than four decades. In 2013, it was allocated in the Winchester City Local Plan as an employment-led site for regeneration.

A successful planning outcome on the recently submitted outline planning application, will see the Bushfield Camp development deliver an innovation park to the south of the city centre, attracting major employers to Winchester looking for new headquarters, across life science, academia, media and health sectors.