New butcher’s shop in Albert Road

Published on Sunday, 22nd April 2018

It’s nice to see that a new butcher’s shop has recently opened in Albert Road, a couple of doors along from Tesco. We all know about the move to online and out-of-town retail, but there is very much a place for independent retailers with the right product. This opening is also a sign that Albert Road remains vibrant.

Tags: Albert Road, Retail

New water feature proves popular

Published on Sunday, 22nd April 2018

The replacement for the fountain near the D-Day Museum is proving popular. Lit at night and computer controlled, it really is a quality feature and is worth popping down to the seafront to see.

The old fountain was 60-years old and with parts unavailable was becoming a maintenance problem. 

Tags: Seafront

New signs at Canoe Lake

Published on Sunday, 22nd April 2018

New information signs have gone in around Canoe Lake, with the aim of making it easier for occasional visitors to navigate. The cost was met from part of the Community Infrastructure Fund development tax paid by McCarthy and Stone for their new building on the seafront.

Tags: Seafront

Fruit importer enters new market

Published on Sunday, 22nd April 2018

MMD, the council-owned company that handles containers and pallets of imported soft fruit, has landed a contract to also handle the export of wind turbine blades. The 10-year deal with Vestas will safeguard jobs at the facility and marks an important milestone in the battle to make the business sustainable.

While MMD has reported a loss most years since the council acquired it a decade ago, the extra trade it brings to the port has generally more than offsets the deficit, meaning that the overall financial position is better having it than not having it. However, the council administration wants it to do better and is making changes to improve the position further.

The shift towards importing fruit in containers is gathering speed and that is a less labour-intensive business than unloading pallets. The council invested millions the other year removing the Floating Dock Jetty - a leftover from the Navy that limited the size of vessels that could land at the commercial port – primarily to accommodate larger, containerised ships. MMD was always going to have to change, but happily, as the Vestas contract indicates that will not necessarily involve scaling back the business.

Tags: Port

D-Day Museum reopens

Published on Friday, 30th March 2018

The newly refurbished D-Day Museum reopened today and it really is first-rate. The tapestry itself looks so much brighter in its new display cases and there are numerous video displays, featuring both actors and veterans.

Amongst the first visitors were a family from Berkshire, whose son was fascinated by history of it all and how it was brought to life. Hopefully, the museum will draw even more people to visit Portsmouth.

The refurbishment works cost £5m, with most of the money coming from the compensation the banks had to pay in the wake of the LIBOR interest rate fixing scandal. While the museum itself is now complete, there are still more works to do to complete the experience, the most notable of which will be when the last surviving landing craft is put on permanent display on an open site just outside the museum.

Tags: Seafront, Museums

The homeless shelter

Published on Friday, 30th March 2018

Last week, the council Cabinet visited the Homeless Shelter and it was an interesting thing to see. Located in Hope House, Milton Road, the facility is much bigger than it appears from the street. Most of the space is taken up with individual rooms, some of which have been personalised: with some people resident there for up to a couple of years, these rooms have become their homes. There are also shared kitchen and bathroom areas; laundry facilities are available. 

The stability of having accommodation can then provide a foundation for addressing any drug, alcohol or mental health issues, as well as providing breathing space to find employment and permanent housing. The separate, council-funded day services provide help for this.

The winter shelter is effectively a shared lounge. While a bit cramped, it meets an essential need and it is really good that we’ve found the money to keep it running throughout the year. It is open from 9pm, although people start to congregate before then.

The whole facility is operated by the Salvation Army on behalf of the City Council. The buildings were originally part of the workhouse and are located just to the north of St Mary’s hospital.

Tags: Housing

Possible redevelopment option for the Royal Mail sorting office put forward

Published on Friday, 30th March 2018

With mail delivery now based in Copnor and the sorting operations in Eastleigh, the sorting office in the city centre is now largely redundant - the post office counters store aside. It is inevitable that the site will be redeveloped and in all likelihood, it will go for some form of housing. The open question is how.

The first hint of what may happen has come in the form of a Prior Notification registered with the City Council. This seeks agreement to allow part of the existing building to be converted into 74 flats.

Turning office space into housing is something that does not require planning consent. All the council is being asked to do is to verify that no flooding issues would arise and that the land is not contaminated. If that is the case – and there is no reason to think it is not – the proposed development is automatically legal and planning permission is not required. The site’s owners can just do it.

This proposal only covers the part of the building nearest to the Post Office Counters and it may well be that a more ambitious proposal will come forward for the rest of the site. Time will tell.

As more and more people do office work from home, building new office space becomes ever less attractive and realistically any proposal will primarily be for housing site, although an element of commercial or office space is a possibility. The council did look at buying the building itself greater control over the form of development and to link it in with the wider city centre, but the constraints imposed by the lease for the counters unit and the likely high sale price meant it just did not add up on this occasion. 

The details of the scheme can be seen on the council’s planning website. Look for reference 18/00004/PACOU.

Tags: Planning

Cumberland House gets funding boost

Published on Wednesday, 14th March 2018

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded the City Council £79,000 for a two-year project at the Cumberland House Museum. The funding will pay for a curator to deliver the Wild About Portsmouth project, which will concentrate on making full use of the collection the council already has to encourage people – particularly children – to develop an interest in the natural world.

Tags: Seafront, Museums

Decking application for pier

Published on Wednesday, 14th March 2018

There’s been a planning application from the owners of South Parade Pier to create a decking area on the beach. If approved, it would sit alongside the Tea on Sea stand. The picture below attempts to show roughly the location. Any errors are mine.

The City Council has a dual role in any development on the beach: it acts both as planning authority and landowner. While a planning application has been submitted, no agreement has been made (or even sought) with the authority as landowner. 

Until the flood defence scheme is finalised and approved by government, it is difficult to see how the council can agree any form of seafront development. Approval for that is likely to be forthcoming at roughly this time next year.

You can see the application on the council’s website. The reference number is 18/00140/FUL

Tags: Seafront, Pier