Priory Park pavilion and Kings Worthy Scouts get £200,000 each; a £1.4m Newlands GP surgery bid was refused. All eight awards and four refusals, with reasons.
Winchester City Council has handed out £924,780 of developer money to eight projects across the district. Four other bids got nothing, including a £1.4 million request for a new GP surgery at Newlands, on the edge of Waterlooville about 18 miles south-east of Winchester.
The money is Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), a charge paid by housebuilders and other developers to fund the roads, play areas and halls that new homes need. The awards are set out in a decision record signed on 16 September 2026 by Strategic Director Cheryl Headon, under powers Cabinet delegated in March. It was published on 18 September.
Who got the money
Community groups had from 1 June to 10 July to bid. The council received twelve applications and turned one away because it was not for infrastructure. Hampshire County Council bid separately. The decision record lists every outcome:
| Project | Asked for | Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Hampshire County Council: Bereweeke Road crossing, Winchester | £224,300 | £224,300 |
| Bishop's Waltham Parish Council: Priory Park pavilion | £200,000 | £200,000 |
| 3rd Winchester Scouts: new headquarters, Kings Worthy | £200,000 | £200,000 (conditional) |
| Kings Worthy Parish Council: land purchase | £118,000 | £118,000 |
| The Carroll Centre, Stanmore: roof | £110,940 | £80,776 |
| Unit 12, Winnall: replacement windows | £196,616 | £53,874 |
| Winchester RFC: floodlights | £147,487 | £27,830 (conditional) |
| Colden Common Parish Council: toddler play area | £20,000 | £20,000 |
| NHS Integrated Care Board: Newlands GP surgery | £1,400,000 | £0 |
| Whiteley Town Council: Meadowside play area | £200,000 | £0 |
| New Life Church, Stanmore: community cafe | £165,000 | £0 |
| Denmead Bowling Club: solar panels | £15,900 | £0 |
Bids totalled £2,998,243. Five of the eight winners got everything they asked for.
The biggest awards
Bishop’s Waltham, about ten miles south-east of Winchester, gets £200,000 towards a new pavilion and community building at Priory Park. The council called it “a strong application for a priority project” in its Playing Pitch Strategy, replacing an outdated pavilion. It will keep in touch with the parish council about its bids to other funders.
Kings Worthy, just north of the city, does best overall, with £318,000 across two linked bids. The parish council gets £118,000 to buy land for recreation, allotments and a planned Scout and community building. 3rd Winchester Scouts gets £200,000 for that building. The Scouts’ award comes with a deadline: the group must secure its match funding by 30 June 2027. If it does not, the £200,000 goes back into the pot on 1 July 2027.
Bereweeke Road in Winchester gets a new pedestrian crossing, with £224,300 to Hampshire County Council. The council said it is on a key walking route in the city’s walking and cycling plan. The county must produce a milestone plan so the crossing is built within 18 months.
The part awards
Three groups got less than they asked for, mostly because the council would not fund solar panels or batteries from CIL:
- The Carroll Centre in Stanmore gets £80,776 for a new roof, which the council said has reached the end of its life. It serves “an area of high deprivation and health inequality”. The solar panels were not funded.
- Unit 12 in Winnall gets £53,874 for replacement windows. Solar, batteries, air conditioning and a heat pump were not funded, partly because of “the recent CIL investment in the building”.
- Winchester RFC gets £27,830 for floodlights, not the pavilion works. It must first spend and account for an £18,674 CIL award made in 2023.
Why four bids were refused
- Newlands GP surgery (£1.4m): the council said a surgery is important for the West of Waterlooville development. But the developer’s obligations under its section 106 agreement are unresolved, and Havant Borough Council has not offered a contribution. A fresh bid could follow once both are sorted.
- Whiteley, Meadowside play area (£200,000): Whiteley is about 13 miles south of Winchester. The bid lacked enough evidence of need or cost. Play space is meant to come from the North Whiteley development’s own section 106 agreement.
- New Life Church community cafe, Stanmore (£165,000): not enough evidence of need, benefit, deliverability or value for money. Officers will explain what a stronger bid would need.
- Denmead Bowling Club solar panels (£15,900): not enough community benefit or link to the impact of development.
Two figures in the record do not match
The record’s summary says one application “is deferred while further discussion takes place” and three will receive nothing. Its own table, and paragraph 3 of the decision, list four refusals and no deferral. We have reported the table.
The decision also gives the Bereweeke Road crossing as £225,000 in 2027/28, while both appendices give £224,300. The £924,780 total adds up only with £224,300.
Two solar schemes dropped
The same record withdraws two of the council’s own CIL allocations:
- £107,000 for solar panels at Winchester Cathedral, removed from the capital programme
- £224,000 for solar panels at Winchester Science Centre, which will be funded from other sources
The record gives no reason for either.
What it means for you
If your group missed out, there is money left. The council forecasts £559,584 for future community, health, transport and active travel bids later in 2026/27, subject to a check by its finance team. The record does not give the next bidding dates. The council’s CIL pages are where they will appear.
Separately, the council’s own pot for its strategic projects is forecast at £427,545. A bid for walking and cycling improvements at Hillier Way is due to go to Cabinet “in the coming months”. That pot also pays for the River Park perimeter path, which went out to tender last month.
For more on what is being built and decided near you, see our Winchester planning news.
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