Designs for new homes on site of historic Portsmouth building to go ahead

Portsmouth City Council is set to start developing plans for the disused records office in Museum Road, in Old Portsmouth, that will include knocking down the building to make way for new homes.

The next steps come following a consultation with residents earlier this year.

As a result the council has committed to not use the site for student accommodation or for high rise flats.

Council leader Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: ‘It's not an option for us to do nothing with this site because this council-owned building has reached the end of its usable life and is suffering from major structural issues, including subsidence.

‘It's costing the council money to keep it safe and the site has been identified as suitable for housing by planners so it's an unmissable opportunity to provide the high quality homes that Portsmouth people need.’

Following the response from the public the council has also pledged to maintain the security of Pembroke Park and the museum and add no direct access to Pembroke Park and create a ‘high-quality, environmentally-friendly scheme that is sensitive to its location’.

It is also planned that as many of the existing trees as possible will be retained, with others replaced and that the scheme will strive to have a low a impact on parking and traffic congestion in the local area.

Around 1,500 nearby residents were contacted as part of the engagement.

‘We’ve made a huge amount of effort to make sure that we are having a meaningful two-way conversation with local people,' Cllr Vernon-Jackson added.

‘We will now start to work on designs for the housing, taking into account as much as possible of what we've been told as part of this major public engagement.

‘When the plans are ready we will take them to the people living, and working, closest to the site for discussion.’

For more information visit recordsoffice.portsmouth.gov.uk

Planning permission was recently granted for the council to provide 17 new homes in the disused Brewery House in Southsea.

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