Former Drayton car dealership could be transformed into new 55-home development

Churchill Retirement Living won its appeal over the refusal of the first scheme for the Hampshire Car Sales site in Havant Road last month but has also continued with its second application.

This is due to be considered by Portsmouth City Council's planning next week, with a recommendation that it is approved.

'Although planning consent has been achieved for the first application, the applicant wishes to pursue this second, alternative scheme to decision,' a report published ahead of Wednesday's meeting says. 'If a second consent is achieved, the applicant would choose which scheme to implement.'

The second application for 55 homes was submitted the day after the council refused the first scheme in November which it said addressed the concerns about the scale of the building and also improved communal spaces.

'Overall, the proposal sits comfortably in the street scene and accords with the character of the area which is larger footprint buildings on corner plots with runs of detached dwellings between,' a statement submitted by the developer said. 'The proposal uses materials found in the immediate area interpreted in a contemporary way.'

Despite these changes, the application still attracted 21 letters of objection, centred mainly around concerns that it was 'overdevelopment'.

'The size, and particularly the height, of the proposed building is out of kilter with the character of the area, and will significantly affect people living in other properties close by, especially those in Orchard Close immediately behind the development who will lose significant amounts of light,' Lampeter Avenue resident Miriam Sampson said.

The level of opposition requires that a decision on it is made by the committee although council planning officers have warned that the results of the appeal make it unlikely they would be able to refuse the scheme on these grounds.

'The overall design of the development proposal, having due regard to the inspector's comments in allowing the recent appeal on the site, is a material consideration and as such, the design of the proposal is acceptable as a refusal on design grounds would be unlikely to be upheld at appeal,' the report says.