Portsmouth city centre regeneration: Council lodges planning application for redevelopment

The outline planning application, made up of 246 documents, covers the area between Hope Street, Charlotte Street and Commercial Road to the east, including the former Tricorn and Sainsbury's sites and sets out ambitions to build as many as 2,300 homes.

Cabinet member for economic development Steve Pitt said its submission 'marks an exciting milestone in the revitalisation of the city centre' and that it was 'a vital piece of the puzzle'.

'This is a long-term project so the flexibility of this planning application means we can adapt the plans over time to reflect the city's changing needs, new ideas and technologies and support improvements to other parts of the city centre, including Commercial Road and Guildhall Square that will come forward first.' he said.

The application, which does not include the final layout designs which would need to be agreed in separate reserved matters applications, outlines plans for 'up to 2,300' homes, 10,000sqm of non-residential space and a new park.

Detailed plans are, however, included for the first phase of the project for the Sainsbury's plot which will see 550 homes in two buildings and the first part of the new park built.

Of these homes, the majority of which will be two-bedroom, 31 per cent would be affordable and made available either under affordable rent or for shared ownership with the remaining 380 homes sold or rented privately.

A statement submitted with the application says this approach would 'set the standard' for the wider development ‘in terms of the design and placemaking' and adds that a greater proportion of family homes would come forward in the second phase.

‘The Portsmouth City Centre North site is a highly accessible and prominent site in Portsmouth City Centre,’ it says. ‘It comprises underused brownfield land with significant opportunity for redevelopment.

‘The site has long been identified for redevelopment in the development planand this is carried forward in the emerging local plan.'

It adds: 'This application proposes comprehensive phased redevelopment of the site through a high-quality design-led scheme that includes up to 2,300 new homes including a minimum of 30 per cent affordable homes, up to 10,000sqm of commercial and community floorspace and a large new public park, along with significant improvements to the public realm and connectivity.'

The council said that the first work could start as soon as 2024, should planning permission be granted, and that it would take about 15 years to complete the entire project.

A series of public consultation events are scheduled to take place over the coming weeks with the council saying that input from these would be used to flesh out designs for the wider project.

The planning application was submitted at the end of last week and a target date of December 13 has been set for reaching a decision.

This scheme has taken over from the Northern Quarter plans which hit the buffers.