Fraser Range: Historic Naval gunnery site could be transformed into 134 new homes after fresh plans were unveiled

Orangestar Capital (Portsmouth) Ltd, part of Investin PLC, have updated its plans, first submitted in 2018, to transform the historic naval gunnery into a 134-home residential development – made up of 116 flats and 18 houses. If approved, the development would provide 196 parking spaces, access road improvements, new public open spaces and £2m infrastructure investment to Portsmouth City Council.

However, the plans have undergone a series of changes following concerns raised by The Environment Agency (EA) and Coastal Partners (CP), an organisation committed to preventing coastal erosion across the Solent. The EA said the developer’s previous flood risk assessments did not consider how people would be kept safe from flood hazards, wave overtopping and breaches.

Following meetings with the EA and CP in January this year, the developers submitted a revised flood risk assessment which includes upgrades to coastal defences. The applicants will be responsible for the long-term maintenance of the defences, and the beach management, for the lifetime of the development. They added the changes also include assessing the full implications of climate change, detailing sea defence barriers and making the retained buildings more resilient.

Fraser Range was used to train The Royal Navy throughout the Cold War as a gunnery until it closed in the 1980s and became an Admiralty Research Establishment. The site was then purchased by QinetiQ in 2001, and its proposal for a 131-home development was given planning permission contingent on infrastructure costs and sea defence maintenance – these conditions were never met and the application was withdrawn in 2011.

After it was purchased from QinetiQ, the National Regional Property Group became the developers in 2017 and has been developing proposals to bring it back into use. The applicants stated that since 2011, the site has “sadly” been left derelict and has become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.

The location is bounded to the northwest by a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), to the north by Fort Cumberland (a Scheduled Ancient Monument), to the east by The Solent, to the south by Eastney Beach, and to the west by the Southsea Leisure Park. Residents can view and comment using the reference 19/00420/FUL.