Controversial plans to redevelop St James' Hospital in Portsmouth have been approved

The council, backed by Milton Neighbourhood Forum, argued that the proposed felling of trees and the loss of Matron’s Garden to make way for three of more than 200 homes proposed on the site made the scheme unacceptable.

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But a planning inspector, appointed in response to PJ Livesey lodging an appeal, said any negatives of the project were more than outweighed by “the significant need” for more housing in the city. No costs were awarded against the council.

The appeal was lodged last summer for non-determination with no decision having been made, despite the planning application being submitted in early 2020.

In December, the council’s planning committee agreed that had the appeal not have already started it would have refused permission, backing the recommendation of planning officers.

By the time the appeal inquiry began in late June, only one reason for refusal remained unresolved: The felling of dozens of trees and the potential loss of open space.

The planning application has drawn significant opposition from people living in Milton who warned it would lead to the ‘destruction’ of one of the few remaining wooded areas in the city.

The development will see the listed hospital buildings converted into 151 homes with 58 further houses and flats built across the hospital grounds. Three of these houses will be built on Matron’s Garden – the centre of much of the concern.

However, planning inspector Richard McCoy said there was no reason to refuse the scheme on these grounds and that there was “unlikely to harm highway safety”.

In his decision notice he said there would be a “minor” impact on the listed buildings from construction proposed across the site but that this was outweighed by the benefits of the development.

“Against this is the significant need for housing in an area lacking a deliverable supply of five-year housing land,” he said. “I consider that the minor harm to significance, would be outweighed by the very significant benefit of the housing provision and the conservation of the grounds into the long-term, including the retention of the key designed elements of the original layout and the recovery of significance through the removal of post-war structures.”

Steve Pitt, the leader of the city council and a Milton ward councillor who had long opposed the development, said the decision was “disappointing”.

“It’s obviously not the outcome we were after and I feel it’s difficult for a planning inspector in Bristol to be able to fully understand the significance of this land to the community and that’s why we need a planning system that gives power to the local area,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

PJ Livesey welcomed the inspector’s ruling and said it hoped to start work by the end of the year.

The company’s managing director, Georgina Lynch, said. “Our scheme not only provides much needed new housing, it preserves the Grade II-listed buildings, a listed chapel, retains the cricket pitch and improves the landscaping of the wider parkland with new walking and cycling routes.”

This will not start until a six-week appeal period has passed at the earliest.