Portsmouth city centre church St Agatha's given permission to extend and create day centre for the homeless

Under the plans for St Agatha's Church, the Lady Chapel will be rebuilt following its demolition in the 1960s while a new north aisle will be built to host a community centre and kitchen partly to help support homeless people.

Church leader John Maunder has welcomed the decision but said work was still 'a while off'.

'This is the first major step in this project,' he said. 'It's taken some time to get to this point - and there's a long way to go - but I'm pleased.

'I think we're still a couple of years away with the north aisle but I hope people might start to see work on the Lady Chapel in a year or so.'

The south aisle is also due to be extended under the plans.

Having been submitted in 2020, the decision on the application was delayed by the pandemic and ongoing pressures in the council's planning department.

Amended plans were submitted late last year and in May, partly due to Historic England concerns about the design of some of the windows, ahead of final approval being given last week.

Support for the scheme was given by Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust which welcomed the decision to restore the Grade II* listed building to its previous importance.

'The application represents an opportunity to correct past mistakes and to reinstate the building to its original purpose and that it would be difficult to reproduce the original design elements,' it said.

St Agatha's Trust, which is set to run the new community centre, said the project would help make the church a 'focal point' in the area.

The building features heavily in the ongoing City Centre North redevelopment project being progressed in the area by the council. Its planning application was submitted last month.

The church was excluded from a compulsory purchase order agreed last year in a bid to bring all land in the area under council control.

'We have had discussions with the council about City Centre North,' Mr Maunder added. 'St Agatha's is the only historic building remaining in the area and this work will help to highlight its importance as that project goes forward.

'We are still in the relatively early stages but getting consent from the council is a big step.'

Council planning officers said the changes made to the plans had overcome initial concerns and that the work could now go ahead.

Grant applications will be put together in the coming months with the granting of planning permission being a 'significant' step in being able to win financial support.