'Revolutionary' £1bn plan to build car-free super peninsula in Portsmouth eyed up by curious residents

Dozens of people took the opportunity to have their say on the ambitious proposals to construct the £1bn Tipner West development during a roadshow event at the Lakeside business park in North Harbour.

The hi-tech scheme could see more than 4,000 homes and a retail hub built on reclaimed land near the old TIpner firing range.

Developers aim to remove enough earth from the site to create an underground ‘podium’ for car parking and storage, leaving the roads car-free and pedestrian-friendly.

Visitors to the roadshow generally backed the proposals but urged developers to boost transport links from the new community to neighbouring ones in Gosport and Port Solent.

Among the ideas floated to regeneration teams included creating a new water taxi service from Tipner West to Gosport and Gunwharf.

Megan Carter, senior regeneration manager for Tipner at Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘There’s more demand for a water taxi than I thought.

‘I think water taxis are brilliant and it’s a natural asset we don’t necessarily use enough on the island.

‘But I didn’t realise how much people were up for a water taxi to be part of it.’

The development will occupy a total of 140 acres and a bridge between Tipner West and nearby Horsea Island will be built for use of the marine job site as well as sustainable transport such as buses and bicycles only.

Work to construct the new site could begin as early as 2023, if planning permission is granted.

Cathy Riley, 69, of Port Solent attended the roadshow event, and gave the plans a cautious backing but was still ‘anxious’ about some aspects.

‘This is a huge undertaking to welcome so many people onto this piece of land,’ she said. ‘This is going to be a challenge for the people living there because they’re going to have to have a different mindset about how they work.

‘There need to be facilities here to make the place liveable. People can’t be treated like rats in an experiment.’

Ms Carter said the team was eager to take on any feedback from residents that could be fed into future plans.

She added: ‘This is revolutionising how people will live in Portsmouth. But we still want to hear what people want.’

The next roadshow will be taking place at the Mountbatten Leisure Centre, Stamshaw, on Thursday, from 8am-7pm