Portsmouth Council paves way to develop huge sea-front site stalled for 70 years

Portsmouth councillors have voted to allow officers to work up plans to build more than 1,250 homes on a site that has been derelict for at least 70 years. 

Development on the polluted Tipner West site, formerly used as a breakers yard for ships, has been discussed by different administrations since 1952.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday councillors voted 18 to four on a “set of principles” that would allow officers to take forward plans to build upwards of 1,250 homes on the site. Nineteen councillors abstained given significant local controversy.

The full list of 10 principles are below. By passing the motion, the council ruled out taking forward both an earlier plan to build 3,500 homes on the site, and the option of leaving the site undeveloped - which a report to the council said would still leave the council with significant ongoing costs and fial to preserve local wildlife.

In a report to the council it was noted that “the site will flood unless sea defences are created”. It added: “As there are no homes currently on the Tipner West site sea defences cannot be funded by the Environment Agency and must therefore be funded by the council.”

Cabinet member for housing Darren Sanders said if homes were built on the site that might mean the council can access government funding for sea defences in that area, and also money for building affordable houses. The decision said the council will now take forward new plans for the site, including effectively leaving open its current options B and C. These are either building just 1,250 homes on the existing land, or reclaiming land from the sea to support a more ambitious development of 2,000 homes, which the council said would deliver better placemaking outcomes.

Environmental groups such as the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust have opposed the plans saying they were “destructive” and would “build houses over intertidal mudflats and a coastal grassland, highly protected as a site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area and Ramsar site.”

Darren Sanders told Housing Today it was too early to tell when the detailed plans would be ready or when houses would be built on the site, but he said he was hopeful it would be “resolved as soon as possible. He said: “We want to balance the real environmental risks with the need to provide affordable homes.”