Hopes for future of derelict Portchester church site after plans for homes go in

Developers have submitted plans for eight new homes on the site of the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in White Hart Lane, three years after previous plans to build seven homes on the site were accepted.

However, those plans, submitted by the Portsmouth Roman Catholic Diocesan Trust, never came to fruition, with the planning permission for the site running out earlier this year.

Now RC Properties are keen to develop the derelict site.

Paul Woodman, committee member of the Portchester Civic Society said: ‘This site is in urgent need of development.

‘It’s become a dumping ground at the moment and we need to make use of our brownfield sites as we’re running out of greenery in Portchester so we need to develop these pots of lands while we can.’

In recent years, the site has seen piles of building waste being left in the vicinity while the church remains out of use.

The church closed down to the public in 2010 after the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth took the decision not to fund repairs and the building has since fallen into a derelict state.

Mr Woodman added: ‘I think we need to speed up these plans to build on our brownfield sites in order to protect our open spaces.’

His comments were backed by Fareham borough councillor for Portchester East, Shaun Cunningham who said that he was supportive of the plans but was ‘sad’ that none of the homes are designated as ‘affordable housing’.

Cllr Cunningham said: ‘We desperately need to bring forward brownfield sites and this site has been crying out for development as it really needs tidying up.’

The plans will also provide 16 car parking spaces.

The planning application’s design and access statement said that the proposed redevelopment would ‘achieve more efficient use’ of the brownfield site.