Winchester has finally woken up to the massive redevelopment at the heart of the city centre.

Some 250 people packed into the Guildhall to hear about plans for the £100 million Broadway-Friarsgate redevelopment last night.

Architect Paul Appleton and developer Mike Capocci outlined their vision for the scheme which envisages 40 shops, 360 homes, a new 280-space car park, plus a new bus station, doctors' surgeries, civic square and possibly offices.

They also launched a public consultation that will culminate with a planning application later in the year.

Previous meetings about the scheme, first mooted in 1998, have been sparsely attended but it was nearly standing room only in the King Alfred Hall.

Many speakers voiced fears about the scheme: that it would be too big, too dominant, too modern in design and with nothing for the young.

Robert Adam, the nationally-known traditional architect, said he was concerned about the mass, the bulk and the scale.

He said: "I would like this to be traditional, something that works today with a direct relationship with the past and wants to pass that on to the future."

Roger Kewell, of Sunnydown Road, Oliver's Battery, said: "I hope it will be a traditional build rather than concrete and glass."

Katie Hughes, a mother of two from Highcliffe, said she was concerned it would ignore the needs of the young. She said: "My teenage daughter can go round the shops and cafes. What is there for my teenage son and his contemporaries? We need to keep young people coming into the city."

Others cast doubts over the council's ability to get the job done. Keith Story, of Edgar Road, asked how the city council could be trusted when it had built the "appalling" Brooks Centre in the 1980s. He said the homes would create 500,000 extra car movements in the city centre worsening pollution.

Barbara Cooper also voiced concerns about the proposed demolition of the Kings Walk antiques centre and what would replace it. However Mr Capocci said he proposed to replicate the covered market in the new Lawn Street, possibly even reconstructing the 19th century original. Mr Capocci added: "It's about a spirit I want to create, to create something that people will want to go to. So there will be shops, cafes, bars, you could have a Christmas ice rink in the Broadway. I want to create a vibrant, living space."

It wasn't all doom and gloom, local architect Ray Attfield struck a positive note: "It could be one of the most wonderful schemes that ever happened in Winchester."

Paul Appleton, director of architects Allies and Morrison, will draw up designs which will go out for public consultation before a planning application is submitted.