MP and council clash over delays to Tipner housing project
A housing development at Tipner East remains stalled more than two years after planning permission was approved conditionally, with a dispute between an MP and Portsmouth City Council over the cause of the delays.
In a Facebook post on December 28, Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin described a visit to the site on December 12 with developers Bellway Homes and Homes England.
She said that despite planning approval being granted in 2023, progress was being “held up” by “ongoing delays” and “unresolved issues” that were “caused” by Portsmouth City Council.
Permission was granted in summer 2023 for up to 221 homes on land north of Stamshaw Junior School next to the site of the former Greyhound track, forming part of the wider Tipner East scheme of more than 850 homes.
At the time, council planning officers said the application was “complex” and would take “a significant period of time to complete” if approved.
Approval was subject to 34 planning conditions and a section 106 developer contribution which is money used to pay for community infrastructure.
Councillor Lee Hunt challenged the MP’s criticism online, clarifying that the outstanding issues “would be complete soon”.
He said council officers had been working “diligently” in “the best interest of all concerned”, including meeting “statutory requirements” and following “laws” such as those covering nitrate mitigation and protected birds.
A council spokesperson said: “We do not understand why the MP is claiming the council is causing any delays relating to development of the East Tipner site. This is untrue.
“We are supporting the developers to find ways to meet their environmental requirements for the site and have a scheduled meeting next week with them to move this forward, which we are confident that outstanding matters can be resolved.
“The council is not holding up the granting of planning permission, nor have we been obstructing or delaying the development of this site, or the delivery of housing in the city”.
Amanda Martin MP said the council was “continually holding up this development by moving goal posts, requesting changes, replying late, agreeing to wording, then not agreeing and blaming resource issues”.
She said legal agreements had been “allowed to drift for months” due to “internal resourcing issues and levels of disagreement within the council, particularly over nitrate mitigation”.
“Homes England has put forward a mitigation solution that is already in use in surrounding areas and supported by the relevant authorities, but it continues to be blocked by the council’s legal team on procedural grounds. This is not the first time Homes England has had to formally intervene to try to unblock delays.
“This is not my personal nor political view. These concerns have been raised with me by Homes England, the developer, residents and others involved after years of trying to make progress and getting nowhere.
“My focus is on getting homes built, and I will not apologise for this. I will continue to hold the council to account until unnecessary delays are resolved and construction can begin.”
Homes England said it was working collaboratively with Portsmouth City Council to resolve the outstanding issues needed to secure full planning permission at Tipner.
A meeting between the parties is scheduled for this week, and it said it remains hopeful the issues can be resolved to allow the development to progress and deliver much needed new homes. Bellway Homes were approached for comment.