City is labelled sewer of south

No, we are not talking about Portsmouth - it is the Southampton that we know and love which has been nicknamed the "sewer of the south" in new architecture magazine Icon.

The city is the second to feature in the publication's 'Crimes Against Design' column and the magazine's editor advises Southampton's fathers to walk the plank in shame of the community they designed.

Numerous landmarks and features of the city have been criticised, including the Itchen Bridge, Southampton Water, Ocean Village and WestQuay shopping centre.

Marcus Fairs, editor of Icon, said in the article: "The Itchen Bridge sums up Southampton. Built in the 1980s, this concrete monster loops across the water, offering unrivalled views towards Southampton Water - one of the world's great maritime playgrounds.

"Or at least it would be, if the engineers hadn't built the parapets so high that motorists can't see a thing."

He goes on to say that hiding the water from view appears to be a design strategy in Southampton and even the Calshot Spit in the Ocean Village car park does not escape criticism.

Mr Fairs describes how the city "manages to screw up its one good idea by throwing a cheap, temporary fence round it."

But is the article really a fair snapshot of this thriving city?

Adrian Vinson, leader of Southampton City Council, is adamant Mr Fairs has got the wrong impression.

He said: "Southampton's recent architecture may be somewhat modest, but the description as a sewer of the south is as absurd as it is offensive.

"Southampton has a fine heritage of historic buildings from Medieval and Tudor periods.

"The years between the wars saw our waterfront sold off by unimaginative councils to private industry, and the immediate desire was to build the local economy and the city centre as quickly as possible led to some lacklustre developments.

"Now, however, for the first time in a couple of generations we have a real opportunity to raise Southampton's architectural appeal."

There are a number of major projects currently under way in the city which hope to transform the future of Southampton.

Perhaps the most ambitious of these is a £160m development featuring a covered arena, Olympic-sized ice rink with conference facilities, giant apartment blocks with coloured sails and a huge public square which could be the new heart for the city's nightlife.

The project will also see a cultural quarter created in Above Bar and the redevelopment of the former Tyrrell and Green department store into 200 high-quality apartments.

Plans are afoot for a landmark hotel at the city's gateway in Charlotte Place, along with offices, apartments and basement car parking.

Mr Vinson said: "The future for Southampton is a city with architectural strength with a strong, historic focus on its waterfront is better than it has been for decades. We really do have a chance to breathe new life into the visual impact of the city. Southampton is a city to be proud of."

But Mr Fairs, who regularly visits family in Marchwood, said he was aware of the plans when the article was written. He believed many of the schemes would never come to fruition.

He said: "Plan schman. It's really easy for the city to announce a ten-year plan, but I will believe it when I see it.

"It was a real shock when I visited Southampton. I went with my wife and we drove through the city and it was even worse than I had remembered it.

"This is the rich south, so there are no excuses - they can afford to make the improvements."

But even the City of Southampton Society, whose main aim is to protect the waterfront from monstrous developments, thinks the city planners have done a good job.

Marian Hubble, vice-chairman and publicity officer for the organisation, said: "We are looking very closely at all the plans that have been put forward over the past few years.

"If there's something that we feel could be done better we tell the council, but Southampton is a great place to live.

"What we really want to safeguard is a view of the water, that's one of our chief aims. We are very concerned that there should always be lots of good views of the water, whatever the development."

Mrs Hubble added that the Society was happy with the way the city was developing and confident that the council would do the best it could to preserve the views of one of Southampton's best assets.

She said: "Of course we do have the docks and we depend on that for our livelihood. We can't complain about what's happened in the past, but in the future we've got to make sure that any waterfront is jealously guarded."

"I totally disagree that Southampton is the sewer of the south. It's an absurdity."