Winchester City Council’s Local Plan for the future of the city’s development has been praised by English Heritage.

A report commissioned to analyse proposed developments, entitled The Sustainable Growth of Cathedral Cities and Historic Towns, referred to planning policy and decisions as “excellent”, paying particular attention to the urban extension at Barton Farm.

The report’s author said: “Over a long period officers have worked hard to achieve a scheme sympathetic to the spirit of Winchester and councillors too have had sufficient faith to continue promoting an urban extension rather than select other choices.”

The report commissioned by English Heritage looked at a range of cities across the country including Bath, Oxford and Durham.

Cllr Victoria Weston, portfolio holder for built environment, said: “It is very heartening that an independent report should comment so favourably on the quality of our response to such difficult issues and that it says: ‘The overall impression from the figures is that heritage has rarely been a key consideration in the selection of a housing allocation to a city. Only in Winchester is there clear evidence that heritage has influenced the allocation, with some evidence for it in Oxford.’ “What this report shows is that the city council has demonstrated a long-term concern for our historic setting to influence the master-planning and detailed design of new development.”