Former Ron Hale boating shop in Portsmouth could be turned into homes

Penguin Developments Ltd has applied for permission to carry out the works on the Highland Road site which it said followed the trend of the declining retail importance of the street.

The shop closed in March last year, following the retirement of its owner, and the building has been vacant since.

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Should planning permission for the developer’s proposals be granted, the building will instead be turned into a terrace of three three-bedroom homes. This would be facilitated partly by the construction of new rear extensions.

‘The proposals seek to convert the existing shop into three dwellings, each with three bedrooms and good standards of living accommodation,’ a statement submitted with the application by PLC Architects says.

‘The scheme is has been sensitively designed to retain the character of the existing active frontage, with materials that are sympathetic to the existing building.

‘It is considered that the proposed development is entirely compatible and appropriate in the area and will provide much needed homes for the local area with an efficient use of urban land.’

The statement refers to several recently-approved conversions of buildings in Highland Road from commercial uses to residential ones, including the nearby gym, and says this shows the area is better-suited for providing housing.

No car parking provision is proposed as part of the development and although council transport officer Robert Neave said demand ‘regularly exceeds’ what is available on the streets in the area, he said the new homes would not have a ‘material impact’ on the road network.

‘There is the potential for increased instances of residents driving around the area hunting for a parking space, although this is an issue of residential amenity,’ Mr Neave’s response to the planning application says. ‘This could justify a reason for refusal and consequently you should give this due weight in your determination of the planning application.’

The council has set a deadline of Friday, February 17 for reaching a decision on the shop’s potential conversion.