Warsash Maritime Academy: Plans for 117 homes to be built and for campus buildings to be demolished

The site covers approximately 2.5 hectares containing various buildings within the campus which will need to be demolished except for two which are Grade II listed. Following demolition, the site will undergo redevelopment to create a total of 117 dwellings as well as associated access, parking, and landscaping.

If approved by Fareham Borough Council’s planning committee next week, the development would deliver fifteen three-bedroom, two four-bedroom, and one five-bedroom house that will feature terraced ‘townhouse’ designs. The proposal BY Metis Homes also calls for a four-storey apartment block offering three one-bedroom and 17 two-bedroom flats.

Grade II Listed Buildings Shackleton and Moyana will be refurbished to provide twelve 1-bedroom, twenty-one 2-bedroom, and two 3-bedroom apartments. The McCarthy Stone Building, also part of the project, will be a four-storey apartment building providing 25 one-bedroom and 19 two-bedroom units, with an age-restricted designation.

Planning documents state the proposal would if approved, deliver ‘much needed housing within the area whilst also providing significant benefits’. It adds that the development would provide the opportunity to enhance and preserve listed buildings ‘preserving their heritage for years to come’.

During the initial phase of this application in March 2022, nine objections were received from the public. In a letter of representation, a local resident of Hook Park Road said: “I simply cannot see how traffic flow and parking can possibly be accommodated by the proposed development in terms of parking spaces available on site and the number of cars using the site.”

Another resident added: “The volume of traffic using Newtown Road has increased substantially over the years; traffic from this proposal, including construction traffic, will only exacerbate the traffic issues that already exist in Newtown Road.

“It is a hazardous road with many drivers often significantly breaking the speed limit of 30mph.

“The proposed four-storey block of flats is overbearing, too big, too high and too close to existing properties. It also detracts from the Listed Shackleton building which appears to be the focus of architecture on the site.”