Plans to expand a multi-million pound lab firm site in Portsmouth set to be approved

The city council’s planning committee will be asked to grant planning permission for the new CTS Europe facility when they meet on Wednesday.

Proposed for the former Ministry of Defence Portsdown site next to Fort Southwick - on the boundary between Portsmouth and Winchester city council - the new lab, the firm said, would allow the company to continue its expansion from Ordnance Court.

'The current business is operating successfully and outgrowing their existing accommodation,' a statement submitted by Harrington Design Architects with the planning application says. 'They are now looking to develop the business in new accommodation more fitting to their profile as a major designer and producer of flume cupboards.'

The statement adds that the new facility on the western part of the Portsdown Hill site would allow the business to 'become an even stronger local business'.

The company had previously attempted to build the new headquarters next to the Porsche dealership at Lakeside before submitting the application last year.

It had hoped for a larger development but said Winchester City Council 'made it clear' it would not support plans for the use of its part of the land in the area.

'This has effectively reduced the plot size for development, posing design challenges that would not normally arise in a new development,' the statement says. 'A decision was taken very early on to locate the new building on that part of the site within Portsmouth City Council jurisdiction.'

Winchester City Council did not object to the planning application.

And Portsmouth City Council planning officers have now said it should be approved, saying the scheme would 'improve the setting' of the Grade I-listed fort.

'The proposal would re-use previously developed land as an employment site facilitating the expansion of a business, creating additional employment opportunities and injecting economic growth into the local area,' a report published ahead of Wednesday's meeting says.

'In addition, the proposal would enhance the aesthetics of the site by replacing excessive hardstandings with a well-designed building and enriched soft landscaping scheme.'

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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