Anger at 3,500-home project
Over 20,000 people have signed a petition opposing plans to build homes on the protected wildlife habitat
The chief executive of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has accused Portsmouth City Council of ‘pulling the wool over the eyes’ of the city’s residents over its highly-controversial Tipner West ‘super peninsula’ plans.
Speaking after Tuesday’s full council meeting at which a detailed report on proposals for the area was discussed, Debbie Tann said the council had not properly informed people of alternatives to land reclamation.
‘The council is using the threat of losing the City Deal funding to scaremonger residents and councillors into supporting the destructive and precedent-setting super peninsula,’ she said.
‘It is now clear that there are viable alternatives that were not included in the Local Plan that meet the City Deal requirements and deliver marine employment with a sustainable level of housing, whilst also safeguarding the important and protected mudflats.’
The council was awarded a grant of almost £50m through the City Deal to develop land around Tipner West but council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson previously warned the council risked having to repay this if it scaled back its ambitions.
The report said a smaller development which excluded the reclamation of land could meet the conditions of the grant but it also warned this would be more difficult financially, requiring subsidies of almost £150,000 per home.
It said the Lennox Point project was the “strongest option”, reducing the level of subsidy needed to about £45,000 while also increasing the number of homes built and proportion of which would be affordable.
Earlier this year Cllr Vernon-Jackson described the scheme as ‘dead’ due to the level of opposition from councillors but has since said a decision on its future would be made by councillors as part of the Local Plan process.
‘It’s not an easy decision,’ he said. ‘There are a range of different possibilities, policies, concerns, costs and ambitions, all of which collide and coming to a simple decision will take time.
‘But…we’re likely to come to a better decision in March when the city council will have to decide on the local plan submission.’
However in a statement the wildlife trust has called for more immediate action to ‘scrap’ plans for the Lennox Point element of any scheme.
‘We are clear that Tipner’s protected intertidal mudflats represent an immovable red line for development that absolutely cannot be crossed,’ it said. ‘But we have now seen council documents that make it clear that they have chosen to ignore viable alternative plans that could provide Portsmouth with valuable housing and employment, without destroying these highly protected natural assets.’
It added: ‘It is evident that there is now a viable range of alternatives to the Lennox Point super peninsula that meet the City Deal requirements and deliver marine employment with a more sustainable level of housing, whilst also protecting and enhancing the protected sites for nature. ‘