Planning Update
Instead of our normal summary of planning applications, once again this month we are sharing the news item created by the Portsmouth Society for their members. Whilst it is not as focussed on the PRS as our normal summary, we hope you find this version more informative and complete. The Portsmouth Society are a voluntary organisation interested in preserving the best of Portsmouth's environment: buildings, streets, open spaces and seashore, and in encouraging well designed new buildings and amenities. Click here for more information.
The final piece in the Stanhope Road skyscraper jigsaw will be reviewed at the PCC Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday 20th June, 17/01807/FUL. There seems to be some consensus that this is the most interesting design of any of the new tall buildings in the city centre, with its offset stepped twin towers of 16 and 19 stories, multiple usage, and Portland-stone effect cladding. It comes, however, with a serious warning - this building is likely to result in the loss of the last distant view of the Guildhall tower, that from Mile End round into Market Way, and great care should be taken with some of the 'Accurate Visual Representations'. The view shown above will only be seen from Station Street, and the view of the Guildhall from Commercial Road will also disappear. The former Co-operative bank on the opposite corner is designated for high-rise accommodation, but is still in the groundworks stage; the Tall Buildings statement in the documentation needs very careful inspection. There have been no objections raised on the portal, and it seems likely that the scheme will be approved, but it will be interesting to note the verdict on parking from a consistency angle.
BT have applied to install new digital information points at 32 sites around the city, mostly in prominent and well-frequented locations. They are replacements for standard public telephone facilities past and present, and as these were installed as essential infrastructure and will still allow communication, it is not clear if they require planning consent. Why anyone would want to connect to such a device instead of simply getting out their mobile phone is similarly opaque, but they claim to offer free telephone calls, high-speed internet access to a limited range of public information sites and USB charging, and as such will offer a community service. The real reason for their installation is of course advertising, as the bulk of these structures will be taken up with screens for ceaseless digital commercials. You can see the full list of locations by searching for 18/006**/ADV in the PCC planning portal; here is a link to one example, and details about the stations themselves can be viewed therein. The Planning Committee are objecting to several of the sites including Palmerston Road on grounds of impeding access and reducing public space, as well as being unnecessary extra street clutter.
At the Council Planning Committee meeting on 30 May there were two applications of note, both passed unanimously:
- the addition of a further floor at 29B South Parade, Southsea, to this very prominent building close to the pier had been challenged by the Society, resulting in a design more sympathetic to its setting. It is this revised plan that has been approved.
- 17/01284/FUL Part demolition of former Crown Bingo Hall 140-144 Kingston Road Portsmouth PO2 7PD and conversion to form retail unit and 10 dwellings, though none initially will be classed as affordable housing. The façade will be retained, though the colour scheme was not mentioned.
Hugh Mason now chairs the Committee with Judith Smyth as vice-chair.
Rocksby"s Restaurant has served up shoals of cod in its time, but now under the management of the family who run the A Bar, The Canteen at the Hotwalls and The Tenth Hole, it is inevitably set to see a major redevelopment. To be known as 'The Briny", it is unlikely that fish will be off the menu, and it sets a much higher standard for seafront development. 18/00604/FUL
18/00848/OUT Plans to demolish the once-popular but recently-closed Invincible public house in Wickham Street and build 76 bedsits for non-students without any provision for parking came in for quite a bit of heat when published. There are doubts about how this sits with public demand and transport policy as much as the structure itself. We have grown perhaps too used to the breathing space provided by the demolition of the Camden Centre at the foot of Queen Street last year. There is no part of Portsmouth with more history than the Hard and Victory Gate as approaches to the historic dockyard, and it has been a pleasure to see it anew for a few months with more space than at any time in the past. But time waits for no-one, and work is now underway on the 6-story Premier Inn that will fill the curved plot (17/00250/FUL). This latest proposal would be a height step between the Premier Inn and the enormity of Europa House, but if all comes to pass it will be a very claustrophobic approach to one of our key heritage areas.