Portsmouth car park in Melbourne Place to be demolished

Permission has been granted for the demolition of the two-storey Melbourne Place car park, which sits between the Horatia House and Leamington House sites, ahead of the redevelopment of the area.

'The structure is not in a conservation area, not unsafe and would not constitute excluded demolition,' council planning officers determined, granting prior approval for the work on Monday (October 17). 'The removed trees are of poor quality and will be replaced as part of the redevelopment.'

They said the demolition plan for the car park was 'thorough and precise and is considered to be suitable'.

As part of a deal with the University of Portsmouth, the council bought the car park in a bid to make the wider redevelopment of the area more economically feasible.

In exchange, the university was given the leasehold of the Dorothy Dymond car park, in Alec Rose Lane for the use of its staff.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the council leader, said when the purchase was approved by his cabinet two years ago that the move was 'sensible'.

'It gives us a much bigger canvas when looking at redeveloping that bit of Somers Town where the two tower blocks are,' he said.

Deconstruction of the two tower blocks bordering the car park has now largely been completed with the council's cabinet member for housing, councillor Darren Sanders saying the project was still within budget and on time.

However, speaking last week he said ongoing economic turmoil could jeopardise the redevelopment of the land.

‘Events of the last two weeks, if left unresolved, have a real chance to affect my assessment of this project,’ he said at last Tuesday's (October 11) full council meeting. ‘These circumstances affect all councils. They affect all development projects, indeed any project in our city and our country.’

The decision to replace the two blocks was taken in 2019 after the buildings were found to be structurally unsound during the replacement of cladding and all 272 households were relocated.

Plans for the site include the construction of 440 new homes, with the replacement of the 272 that were lost under affordable rates.