Rooms with a full frontal view
OWNERS of posh new seaside flats look set to get one of the most unusual views in the country – the sight of nudists bathing on the beach below.
City chiefs have agreed that 131 new flats valued at between 200,000 and 500,000 can be built by Qinetiq on its site in Eastney, Portsmouth.
Allan Kidney, speaking on behalf of British Naturism, the official organisation for naturists in the UK, told a city council planning meeting that the beach, near Fort Cumberland, had been used by nudists since the 1940s.
He urged councillors to reject the plan or to call for Qinetiq to pay for screens or a new beach so naturists could continue their naked sunbathing without being overlooked.
But councillors said the nudist beach was not an issue the committee had to take into consideration.
Eastney Lib Dem councillor Terry Hall called for a deferral to at least allow a solution for the nudists, but this was not taken up by committee members.
Qinetiq's agent, Matthew Fox, said: 'The beach is not part of the planning application and we would have no objection to its continued legitimate public use.
'They are building new sea defences there because of the danger of flooding. If they build the wall a little bit higher it would act as a screen.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
