Royal Navy: Plans proposed to knock down buildings at Portsmouth Naval Base

KBS Maritime, a joint business run by KBR and BAE Systems to oversee repair and maintenance operations for Royal Navy ships as well as managing base infrastructure, has applied to the city council for prior approval for the work to level the buildings at Portsmouth Naval Base.

Its application, submitted earlier this month, proposes the demolitions – and the removal of two lighting towers – which it says are unused and in a ‘poor’ condition.

The cleared space would be used mainly to increase car parking provision at the base.

The application follows the submission of several others in recent months for the demolition of single buildings for similar purposes.

Under the prior approval process, the council is able to approve the work without the need for a full planning application to be submitted.

The council has set a deadline of September 5 for deciding whether this is required.

As previously reported, hundreds of dockyard jobs were safeguarded at the naval base after BAE Systems secured a lucrative £1.3bn deal.

BAE Systems won the two contracts from the Ministry of Defence last year.

The first deal, worth a whopping £900m, will see BAE continuing to maintain and repair the entire naval fleet in Portsmouth, including the navy’s two new aircraft carriers HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The second contract, worth £356m, saw BAE joining forces with tech firm KBR to modernise the naval base’s facilities and dockyard services as part of a new joint venture called KBS Maritime.