Tipner East: Plans for 200 homes at Portsmouth site given the go-ahead after an agreement to block vehicle access

Developer Bellway Homes had proposed that access for 20 per cent of the homes be along the road but this drew widespread opposition from people living in the area who said it was not suitable.

At their meeting on Wednesday (July 12), members of the city council’s planning committee backed their position, saying their concerns should be listened to because of the amount of development in the area.

‘Residents in Tipner and north Stamshaw have welcomed more than 1,000 homes to this site and, unlike in every other part of the city, they have recognised the need for homes and affordable housing,’ councillor Lee Hunt said. ‘These two consents will meet a substantial amount of the city’s housing need and there’s not been much fuss about it, unlike in Cosham or Milton.

‘They are not opposing the housing so we need to meet them somewhere along the way.’

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The application for land between the proposed Vivid development to the north and Stamshaw Junior School to the south includes the construction of 221 homes, one-third of which will be affordable.

A legal covenant is in place preventing cars from travelling through the site from Tipner Lane, but the lack of any barriers preventing this were one of the issues that saw the committee defer a decision on the application when it was considered in May.

Since then, plans have been drawn up for planters to be put in the road until a decision is made on a potential bus-only route along the road.

But this has not allayed concerns. Speaking before the decision was made, Jeffery Hector said these measures did not go far enough.

‘The latest talk of installing temporary bollards or planters is of no comfort to residents that Tipner Lane will not become a rat run,’ he said. ‘The majority of comments submitted are not against building homes but are alive to the dangers arising if Tipner Lane should be opened up to through traffic.’

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The council’s assistant for planning, Ian Maguire, told councillors it was ‘entirely possible’ the road would become a through road in the future.

The committee agreed unanimously to grant planning permission but added a condition to this that a barrier be installed on Tipner Lane to prevent any access to the new estate

Mark Chevis, Bellway Homes’ land director, said earlier this year that he hoped construction would start this year. It is expected it would take three to five years to complete.