Deal saves historic barracks

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save a historic Army barracks in Winchester from partial demolition were celebrating yesterday after the Government agreed to sell it to a property developer for nearly pounds 3m, writes Will Bennett.

Michael O'Brien, chairman of Arundel Estates, plans to redevelop the 15-acre site in the centre of the Hampshire city into houses and flats without knocking down any of the historic buildings in the Peninsular Barracks, some of which date from the Crimean War.

The deal is a victory for Huw Thomas, a Winchester architect, and the conservation group Save, who opposed an MoD scheme to demolish almost all the buildings in the Lower Barracks. Mr O'Brian's plan is very similar to an alternative scheme by Mr Thomas which preserved all the buildings.