Plans for new Farlington sports facilities rejected by Portsmouth planners
Flooding, air quality and unauthorised storage containers were among the concerns raised.
Portsmouth planners have rejected plans for new sports facilities in Farlington amid concerns over flooding, air quality and planning enforcement.
Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee refused the application for sports facilities at Thirty Two Acres, on Eastern Road, on the site of the former St John’s College playing fields.
The proposals included three netball courts, two padel courts and a multi-use games area on an overgrown section of land in the south-east of the site.
The application received 35 representations, with 34 supporting the scheme and none objecting.
Council officers cited concerns raised by drainage consultants, as well as air quality issues due to the site’s proximity to a busy main road.
The site is also subject to ongoing enforcement action relating to the siting of 29 storage containers and hardstanding without planning permission.
Tony Denton, a former Havant Borough councillor and owner of the site, said that when the college “went into liquidation in 2022 no buyer would take on the playing fields at the asking price – we did because we saw one way to keep them in sport.”
He said the need for more sports pitches was “evidenced by your own playing pitch strategy which records a shortfall of youth an junior sports pitches in the city”.
“When this land was the school’s, your own playing pitch strategy recorded it as not available for community, today 480 players, various charities are supported within that including the United By Loss football club.”
Officers clarified that the storage containers represented a “straight breach, there’s no planning permission, the applicant has simply put the storage container onto the land and taking a commercial benefit from doing that – hence why we’ve served an enforcement notice.”
Cllr Lee Hunt said: “This is an open and shut case – I’m gobsmacked that anybody can show up and plonk containers down and just think they can lawfully trade, you can’t.”
Cllr Joe Standen suggested deferring the application to allow an air quality and financial viability assessment to be brought back before the committee.
Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson warned that “the moment you say it’s ok to develop on playing fields in this city” the council could set a precedent for “a different group of councillors” in the future.
“The moment we give a precedent – that’s a green light for people to come back here in the future for other places in the city.”