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The Southampton City Vision consultation has now closed. We will share results in the coming weeks and there will be further opportunity to give us your views later in the year. 

From 10 February 2020 to 31 May 2020 Southampton City Council ran our first consultation for Southampton City Vision. The aim of this consultation was to help us understand the priorities, ideas and aspirations for the city. Over 3,000 responses were received and over 270 attended the community events that took place. A summary of the results can be found below and the full report can be downloaded here.

Summary of results

The consultation was framed around six key challenges/themes. Of these, ‘environment and climate change’ was considered to be the most important, closely followed by ‘growth and investment’ and ‘getting around’. Respondents were also asked to identify priorities both in their local area and the city centre. The same three came out as most important locally and for the city centre:

  • Parks, open spaces, nature and conservation
  • Reducing air pollution and improving air quality
  • Access to frequent and reliable public transport

Over 3,100 individual comments were received through the on-line survey, with further responses received by email. In general, the comments support and help us to understand the results of the structured questions. Here are some of the key messages:

  • People want to have more sustainable and environmentally friendly options, particularly when it comes to transport, neither public transport or cycle/walking routes are adequate to deter the use of cars
  • Some felt that more radical decisions should be made such as the city centre being completely car free
  • Many respondents expressed concerns that increased development could put pressure on the city’s parks and green spaces. A Local Plan must protect these areas
  • People recognise the importance of the port but are concerned about how this is contributing to air pollution
  • There is a desire to have more access to the waterfront. This is a fundamental part of the city’s identity and heritage, but Southampton doesn’t feel like a waterfront city
  • There is a clear demand for local highstreets and people feel it is important to support business start-ups and local independent businesses. Some feel that Southampton has too many chains and needs to be more individual and ensure money is going back into the local economy
  • A large number of comments were made about the ‘state’ of the city; rubbish, poor pavements, homelessness and general upkeep and look of the city. People feel it is tired and run down and people lack pride in their local area. This is not the right impression to give to visitors and there is potential to make Southampton a destination, particularly with the cruise ship passengers
  • Most felt that adopting space standards was important, but this also extended to outside space
  • Whilst people understand the need to build high rise buildings, given the pressure on space, few are in favour of very high rise blocks. However lower rise of perhaps 4-6 storeys with good outdoor space seemed more acceptable
  • Many feel the city has great potential but there is a need to be bold and take a different approach, at present there is a slight feeling of despair and little faith that change will happen

From 10 February 2020 to 31 May 2020 Southampton City Council ran our first consultation for Southampton City Vision. The aim of this consultation was to help us understand the priorities, ideas and aspirations for the city. Over 3,000 responses were received and over 270 attended the community events that took place. A summary of the results can be found below and the full report can be downloaded here.

Summary of results

The consultation was framed around six key challenges/themes. Of these, ‘environment and climate change’ was considered to be the most important, closely followed by ‘growth and investment’ and ‘getting around’. Respondents were also asked to identify priorities both in their local area and the city centre. The same three came out as most important locally and for the city centre:

  • Parks, open spaces, nature and conservation
  • Reducing air pollution and improving air quality
  • Access to frequent and reliable public transport

Over 3,100 individual comments were received through the on-line survey, with further responses received by email. In general, the comments support and help us to understand the results of the structured questions. Here are some of the key messages:

  • People want to have more sustainable and environmentally friendly options, particularly when it comes to transport, neither public transport or cycle/walking routes are adequate to deter the use of cars
  • Some felt that more radical decisions should be made such as the city centre being completely car free
  • Many respondents expressed concerns that increased development could put pressure on the city’s parks and green spaces. A Local Plan must protect these areas
  • People recognise the importance of the port but are concerned about how this is contributing to air pollution
  • There is a desire to have more access to the waterfront. This is a fundamental part of the city’s identity and heritage, but Southampton doesn’t feel like a waterfront city
  • There is a clear demand for local highstreets and people feel it is important to support business start-ups and local independent businesses. Some feel that Southampton has too many chains and needs to be more individual and ensure money is going back into the local economy
  • A large number of comments were made about the ‘state’ of the city; rubbish, poor pavements, homelessness and general upkeep and look of the city. People feel it is tired and run down and people lack pride in their local area. This is not the right impression to give to visitors and there is potential to make Southampton a destination, particularly with the cruise ship passengers
  • Most felt that adopting space standards was important, but this also extended to outside space
  • Whilst people understand the need to build high rise buildings, given the pressure on space, few are in favour of very high rise blocks. However lower rise of perhaps 4-6 storeys with good outdoor space seemed more acceptable
  • Many feel the city has great potential but there is a need to be bold and take a different approach, at present there is a slight feeling of despair and little faith that change will happen