Tipner East: Plans for 800 new homes on Portsmouth wasteland are approved

‘Ambitious’ plans for a £120m, 800-home development on ‘eyesore’ land in Portsmouth have been unanimously approved by the city council’s planning committee.

Despite concerns about a ‘huge’ shortfall in parking, councillors welcomed progress to regenerate the Tipner East site, saying it was ‘about time’ a comprehensive scheme was brought forward.

They praised the inclusion by Vivid, the housing association behind the project, of 250 affordable homes in the scheme and the new sea defences in the area.

Mark Perry, Vivid’s chief executive, said a funding arrangement agreed with Homes England would allow it to increase the more than 3,100 homes it already manages in the city.

‘Our ambitions for Tipner East are substantial,’ he said at Wednesday’s (March 1) planning committee meeting. ‘They require us to work with key stakeholders and the local community to transform part of the city to provide new green spaces and commercial, social and recreational facilities alongside the new homes.

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He added: ‘I know the difference this will make to residents and future residents. More than providing additional homes, it will regenerate an area left in desperate need of regeneration.’

Most of the homes will be provided as flats in several 11-storey blocks while the development will also include a new waterfront cycleway and footpath. A bus gate will also be added, connecting it to the neighbouring park and ride.

However, the provision of just 194 parking spaces – although the figure could increase if an agreement is reached for 396 spaces as part of the planned transport hub – did prompt concern.

Committee member Linda Symes said the fact this had been supported by planning officers who recommended planning permission be granted, showed a ‘lack of awareness’ from the department.

‘I do have some very serious concerns about the parking,’ she said. ‘We’re not talking about a small shortfall – we’re talking about a huge one and as much as we might love the idea of everyone cycling and walking, it’s not going to happen.’

But Ian Maguire, the council’s chief planner, said parking within new developments had to be reduced if the city wished to move towards a ‘lower car future’.

Darren Sanders, the cabinet member for housing who proposed planning permission be granted, said he had heard similar concerns but added that there were ways to address them, including the possibility of routing more bus services via the neighbouring park and ride.

He welcomed the proposal, saying it provided ‘significant’ benefits.

‘It’s about time that this empty site, which has been an eyesore in the city, finally has a development that might work,’ he said. ‘We’ve all looked at it when we’ve come in on the M275 and gone “what’s this?” so it’s about time we’ve got a proposal.

‘It’s about time that we’ve got a comprehensive planning proposal for a significant number of homes that is policy-compliant for affordable homes.’

He added that it proved developments with significant numbers of affordable homes were financially feasible, ‘despite the many siren noises we hear from other developers that it’s impossible’.