Mayfield School rebuild
Published on Monday, 20th November 2017
One of Portsmouth’s biggest schools is to be rebuilt. Mayfield dates back to 1932, but it will now be replaced, with the £23m bill covered by Whitehall. The City Council has been pushing for some time for this particular school to be included in the government’s Priority School Building Programme in recognition of its poor state of repair.
Mayfield is the city’s only all-through school, spanning the entire 4 to 16 age range; it is also one of its biggest with a capacity of 1520.
The redevelopment works will be managed by the Department for Education as part of a standardised contract to build new schools at the lowest possible cost. This involves a single contractor and a modular design, allowing for the addition of new wings at a later date if required.
There is no denying that the existing building is attractive and in some ways it is a shame to lose it. However the opportunity to secure a brand new building, with the levels of energy efficiency and of IT readiness that implies was too good to turn down.
For most of its life Mayfield was a secondary-only school, but five years ago, at a time when the city still had lots of surplus secondary places but a shortage of primary ones a decision was taken to convert some of the space for primary pupils. The works to make that happen cost several million pounds, which was clearly a waste now that the building is going to be redeveloped. While that occurred before the Conservatives took the council, I think it was a sensible decision given the information available at the time; the building is apparently in a worse condition that was appreciated.
All-in-all though, this is good for the city, as it the fact that work is expected soon to expand the Portsmouth Academy to raise its capacity to 250 per year. This will involve an extension and is being managed by the City Council, with the money being set aside this February. It is a curious fact that even though councils do not run academies, they retain responsibility for any extra spaces that may be required.
Tags : Education
Work starts on new Police Investigation Centre
Published on Monday, 20th November 2017
Construction work has started on the new Police Investigation Centre (PIC) out by the Airport Service Road. Replacing all the area’s police stations, the new centre will include holding cells and office space for investigation staff for the whole southeast Hampshire area. Community policing meanwhile has already been relocated to other public sector buildings, with officers based in the Civic Offices, in Southsea Fire Station and jointly with social care in Medina House, Cosham.
Reducing the police real estate footprint to just three giant buildings – the other two centres being in Southampton and Basingstoke – is a pretty radical move and there are legitimate worries about how much time will be consumed moving inmates around and on travelling. However the Police and Crime Commissioner made the decision to move and the council’s role has been to ensure that the PIC for this area is based within the city boundary. With so few large sites available that was not easy and a move to Havant was on the cards, but I am pleased we have been able to retain the jobs and the police presence in Portsmouth.
Tags : Police
A bright future for the Outdoor Centre
Published on Sunday, 5th November 2017
The Portsmouth Outdoor Centre is an excellent facility that many people do not even know exists. Located near the Harvester on Eastern Road, its primary purpose is to provide access to water sports. Built in the early 1990s, the site has been operated by Parkwood Leisure on behalf of the City Council and has provided a chance for thousands of young people to experience activities such as sailing and windsurfing.
The council has now struck a deal with the Andrew Simpson Sailing Trust for it to take over the running of the centre. This will see it donate £158,000 worth of charitable event per year, including residential courses and outreach to kids from poorer backgrounds - both directly and through schools. As a charity, it should be able to secure funds from private benefactors and the lottery in a way that a public body cannot.
Children living in the UK’s only island city should grow up feeling comfortable on the water. This deal will ensure they have the opportunity.
Tags: Leisure
Southsea flood defences and the government grant
Published on Sunday, 5th November 2017
This week saw a round of consultation events over the new flood defences around Southsea and Old Portsmouth. I went to the one in Cosham and both the information presented and the questionnaire were useful. Across all locations, the total number of people that visited will have been around a thousand.
Following the recent East Southsea Neighbourhood Forum, I need to perhaps explain why some of the alternative suggestions that have been put forward are unrealistic.
• An underground car park. At the meeting, it was said that the council could remove all the parking from the roads in the Common and replace it with an underground car park. The thing is, underground spaces are enormously expensive, which is why there are hardly any underground car parks. A decade ago, the cost was estimated at £100,000 a space, so 500 spaces would cost £50m. On the other hand, as the parking would be relocated, there would be the same amount of income as before. You cannot borrow under those circumstances and £50m is £1000 per council tax bill. To people living near the seafront that might be worth it, but residents in Copnor and Fratton would be unlikely to agree.
• Moving the Pyramids. Demolishing and rebuilding the Pyramids would cost about £30m. Bearing in mind that the whole thing nearly closed in 2010 and the only thing that prevented that was that Sport England would have demanded the repayment of a £5m grant given to the Mountbatten Centre, it is perhaps clear that that is a great of deal of money. Not only that but council budgets have halved since then. Frankly we’ve done really well to keep the Pyramids open at all.
The flood defences are an opportunity not only to secure properties for the coming decades, but also to make the seafront an even more attractive place. Every attempt will be made to make the new defences both attractive and unobtrusive. Having a debate on this is healthy and useful, because as a city, we need to be able to answer questions like: is the gradual loss of the beach by the Naval War Memorial acceptable? It is things like that which constrain the design.
Tags: Sea Defences
Business rate relief scheme moves forward
Published on Sunday, 1st October 2017
The council is advancing plans to offer business rates discounts to some small and medium sized businesses. Funded from a pot set aside from the chancellor, the scheme will benefit selected companies with a liability of under about £100,000.
Separately the revaluation of commercial property rateable values will see shops in Portsmouth benefit from a reduction averaging 30%. This should help them to survive even as trade moves increasing to out-of-town retail and online.
Tags: Business Rates
New council housing construction continues apace
Published on Sunday, 1st October 2017
A milestone was reached in the construction of 60 houses and flats on the former Somerstown Health Centre and the 30 houses and 8 flats at Blendworth Crescent, Leigh Park with the topping out ceremony to mark the tallest buildings on both developments reaching their full height.
The two projects are part of the City Council’s programme to build over 200 affordable properties over the next few years – making it the largest wave of new council properties since the 1980s. Few other local authorities are building as many homes.
Tags: Housing
Changing the funding model for QA hospital
Published on Sunday, 1st October 2017
The way QA hospital is paid for is changing. Money has traditionally flowed around the NHS on the basis of activity: a national formula sets the price for a broken arm (for example) and for everyone a hospital treats, it receives a set amount of money. As the formula is based solely on the procedure undertaken, it incentivises hospitals to get people home as there is no additional funding for keeping people in for longer than necessary.
The flipside is that it encourages hospitals to do more activities, which may not always be the right thing to do. Over time, the effect is to suck money into hospitals and out of general practice and community services. It also generates a lot of accounting activity.
Across the country, NHS partners are switching to the so-called ‘Aligned Incentive Contracts’, which essentially means giving hospitals a fixed budget, regardless of the amount of work that they do. Portsmouth moved to this new model in the spring.
While none of the decisions behind this were taken by the local authority, I do think it makes sense. As the population ages, the only way the NHS will be able to cope with demand is to do more in community settings, such as district nurses and GP practices (and social care) and to make every effort to keep people who can be kept out of hospital at home. Aside from money, hospitals are dangerous places, particularly for older people, who are at risk of infection and who suffer incredibly rapid muscle loss if left in bed. Moreover, no-one wants to spend more time in hospital than is strictly necessary.
You can read some more about this here.
Tags: NHS
Tightening the rules on Houses in Multiple Occupation
Published on Sunday, 24th September 2017
The council is currently consulting on possible changes to the planning policies surrounding the creation of new Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
Portsmouth already has the strictest rules in the country, so the scope for additional restrictions is limited. The draft policy makes a number of technical changes and more significantly, clarifies and tightens the rules on the largest HMOs that consist of seven or more rooms. In future, such applications will need to demonstrate that they are not over intensive.
In the last year or so, there have been numerous applications to add rooms to existing shared houses. Some of these have been refused and some have gone through. The new rules should ensure some consistency.
You can read the proposed policy by clicking here.
Tags: Planning
Successful lottery bid for last landing craft
Published on Sunday, 24th September 2017
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £4.7m for the restoration of the last surviving D-Day tank landing craft. Once spruced up, the 57m long vessel will be put on permanent display outside the D-Day museum.
More than 800 similarly boats were used in the Normandy landings. LCT 7074 is the last, having ended up as a nightclub in Birkenhead, Merseyside before being abandoned and eventually sinking in 2010. Happily, she is now safely in storage in Portsmouth Naval Base and will be on display in time for the 75th anniversary of the landings in 2019.
Tags: Seafront
Churches Homeless Action
Published on Sunday, 24th September 2017
Saturday was the launch event the Churches Homeless Action project, which is an annual fundraising drive to help the homeless and rough sleepers. Last year, they raised £14,000 in £5 gift vouchers that are given out at Christmas to people who would otherwise have very little.
There is also talk of a group of churches coming together to provide a rolling winter shelter, with each church on the roster opening its doors one night per week. It goes without saying that it is great to see the church pursing its social mission in this way.
On a related front, the launch event also included a demonstration of the streetsupport.net app, which the City Council is purchasing. This is a website that provides information on available help to people living on the street, such as where food is available. The database has not yet been populated, but will be in time for the official launch on the 10th.
Tags: Homelessness