Plans to turn derelict site at The Hard into £8.8m hotel

Premier Inn wants to build the 120-bedroom hotel and adjoining restaurant on Queen Street at The Hard in Portsmouth.

Within the application, submitted to Portsmouth City Council, the economic impact statement says 117 permanent jobs will be created with an additional 95 created during the construction stage.

It is expected to bring £2m a year into the Portsmouth economy.

Leader of the council Donna Jones, who is also the cabinet member for planning, regeneration and economic development, said she was pleased by the application.

‘This development is planned for a current derelict site,’ she said.

‘Having derelict sites in built areas has an effect on adjacent businesses and so news that the application has been submitted is pleasing indeed.

‘The plan for a 120-bed hotel near the Historic Dockyard is exactly what that area needs to assist one of the best tourist attractions in the south of England.

‘This proposed development will create new jobs but more importantly it will provide much needed hotel bedrooms as the city’s hotels are regularly sold out when we have major events on such as the America’s Cup and Victorious Festival.’

As part of the application the current buildings on the site will be demolished to make room for the new hotel. It will be located on the land next to the junctions of Queen Street, Havant Street, Old Star Place and Wickham Street.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Portsmouth, said: ‘This derelict site is in a good place next to the historic dockyard.

‘It needs to be developed and a hotel is a good use.

‘The problem we have in Portsmouth is not a lack of interest from hotel companies but them actually being built.’

Three objections have so-far been submitted against the development.

Two residents raised concerns about the level of noise, parking and whether it will fit in with the historic surroundings of The Hard.

Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee will consider the application on June 14.

The proposed hotel is the second of its kind to be submitted to the council in the last three months.

As previously reported in The News, Travelodge is looking to build a 12-storety, 152-bedroom hotel on Stanhope Road.