Gosport: Homes could be built on dilapidated Clayhall Road site because it can't be used for business anymore

The brownfield site in Clayhall Road has been dubbed “underutilised” by developers who are eyeing up demolishing the existing buildings and building nine, three-bedroom houses on the 1,964-square metre commercial plot.

Tom Howell, of TSN Homes Ltd, has applied for planning permission from Gosport Borough Council for the homes, with parking and gardens, and to alter the existing access from Clayhall Road. The industrial site will be cleared and will need a change of use from commercial to residential permission to make way for the new homes at 82-24 Clayhall.

Alverstoke Precision Tools, an engineering company, occupied the former industrial site which ceased to trade and went into liquidation in 2023, said the design and access statement.

The statement said it is no longer appropriate to have businesses on the site that operate out of hours.

It said: “The site is in a quiet residential area, removed from other employment uses. The site has a single building, comprising workshops, which is dated and unsightly. The site is not an appropriate area for employment uses.”

The statement described the site as “underutilised” and in a “dilapidated state”, adding: “The buildings are outdated, poorly constructed, flat-roofed and require substantial re-investment.”

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Eight of the homes will be made of multi-red facing walls with brickwork detailing which is common in naval buildings, while the ninth will have off-white coloured rendered walls. All houses will have uPVC double-glazed windows and doors in dark grey and a front door of composite grey.

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The mixture of detached, semi-detached, and terraced homes will have close-boarded fencing between them and around the site, with a total of 20 car parking spaces.

Planning documents said the site had to undergo a “sequential test” because it is not considered a “minor development”, and is in a flood risk area. The risk is not from surface water flooding but from tidal flooding due to its coastal location.

The purpose of the sequential test report was to decide whether the development would be appropriate and compared the site to others around Gosport.

Council planners have set April 21 as a target date for a decision on application 25/00041/FULL.