Cinema plan floated for City Centre North redevelopment in Portsmouth

Speaking at Tuesday's cabinet meeting, he said the land 'has to be used for more than just flats' and that the council would 'make every possible effort' to provide facilities, including a cinema and more choice for shoppers.

'Residents want to see a stronger retail offer in Commercial Road and the city council will work with landlords and retailers to do everything it can to improve the shopping offer,' he said.

'I don't know if we're going to be successful but I think we should make every effort possible to try to make sure that the shopping offer is as strong as possible. That's what people expect Commercial Road to be.

He said the acquisition of the Sainsbury's site last year and the land owned by Delancey in January meant the council could now facilitate this.

'We've got the best chance we've had in a generation to make something happen in the city centre where there's been dereliction and decay for too long,' he added. 'We really need to seize this opportunity with both hands.'

A planning application, which is expected to include more than 2,000 homes, is due to be submitted next month with an aim to have redevelopment work start as soon as 2024.

The council is also putting together a compulsory purchase order to ensure it controls all of the land in the area to enable a 'comprehensive' project to be put together and has held discussions with Homes England about it becoming involved in the scheme.

'We have an enormous opportunity here and I'm determined that this will not just be a housing scheme,' Cllr Vernon-Jackson said after the meeting. 'We need to make sure there are shops for people to go to, a cinema for people to go to. It's got to be something that's attractive.

'We had hoped in the past that private developers would do that but clearly that did not happen.'

On top of a cinema, he suggested the scheme could also include a lending library, similar to the 'hugely successful' project in Southsea.

'We've essentially been on hold here for the last 20 years,' cabinet member for culture Ben Dowling said. 'That's a long time. But now the council's working hard to bring partners together and bring the work forward.'

He added: 'We're now at the stage where the future is becoming today and we can start to see some of it come to fruition.'