History of Port Solent

The History of Port Solent

Introduction

This information sheet looks at the development history of Port Solent, from the original concept through to recent major development proposals for the site. A separate information sheet is available covering the reclamation of the land a 'North Harbour' on which Port Solent stands.

Early Proposals

During the 1970s various uses were proposed for the reclaimed land at North Harbour. These included a venue for the Commonwealth Games, a sports arena, and alternative to Fratton Park, a major conference centre and a site for motor sports. However it was to be proposals for a marina development utilising what was then known as 'Paulsgrove Lake' which was eventually to produce the development we see today

In February 1981 Arlington Securities and their architects, Hedley Greentree Partnership, submitted the first 'Port Solent' scheme. This proposed a marina village including 850 berths, residential areas, hotel, retail and marina facilities. Portsmouth City Council's Planning Committee considered the scheme on 24th July 1981. The committee felt that although the scheme possessed considerable merit, a decision should not be made before an overall plan had been prepared for the whole North Harbour and Tipner Lake area. This first marina scheme was later refused planning permission in January 1982, as it did not accord with this overall plan (see below) due to its large office element. However it had set the tone for later proposals.

North Harbour & Tipner Lake Development Options

As well as the submission of the Port Solent scheme, there were a number of additional factors behind the decision to produce an overall plan for the reclaimed area. These included the completion of tipping on the majority of the site, changing trends in leisure time & spending, and the then new sections of the M27 and M275. The plan considered aspects such as possible uses, access arrangements, site conditions, capacity of the Harbour for new berths/traffic, timing of development and the recreation, leisure & tourism needs of the city.

The document 'North Harbour and Tipner Lake Development Options' was approved in January 1982 and proposed that Paulsgrove Lake should be developed into a marina basin for either:-

a marina for up to 1000 boats including housing development, local shops, boat showrooms/repair/building and hotel, or
a marina for about 500 boats together with a maritime theme park, boatyard, hotel and tourist information centre.

Selection of Developers

Public consultation on this plan was carried out in March 1982. There was general support for the City Council's proposals and developers were invited to express an interest in developing the site for a marina in line with the guidelines. Sixteen Developers expressed an interest and eight were selected to submit schemes and financial offers in April 1982. These were further reduced to three companies in July 1982. At this stage the City Planning Officer prepared detailed planning guidelines for the 2 alternative schemes & the 3 short-listed developers were given until 18 February to prepare schemes. The detailed guidelines were published in October 1982 and it was envisaged that both planning and landlord powers would be used to shape and control the development.

One of the developers dropped out and the remaining two (Arlington/Taylor Woodrow and Zeta/Bovis) presented their schemes to an informal meeting of the City Council on 14 March 1983. The Zeta/Bovis consortium did not adhere to the City Council's Planning Brief and included a district shopping centre with a hypermarket. The more interesting element of their scheme was a major indoor leisure element with a maritime theme. Arlington Securities' Port Solent scheme was based on the Mediterranean concept, with berths for vessels adjacent to the living accommodation. The City Council formally appointed Arlington Securities on 22 March 1983.

Arlington headed a consortium including, Higgs & Hill, Regalian and Capital & Counties. Opportunities for waterfront development in the City were limited and Port Solent was seen as providing for much needed luxury housing, marina berths to boost the local boating industry, tourist facilities and a place of recreation for residents and visitors alike.

Planning History

Outline Planning Permission was granted in March 1985 for a marina of nearly 700 berths, a hotel, 600 dwellings (with a maximum of 33% as flats), over 100,000 sq.ft. of offices, a local shopping centre, marina related retail area and marina industry area.

Preparation work began on 4th January 1985 with construction of the traffic light controlled junction on Southampton Road. Other works involved the dredging of the existing lagoon, the installation of the marina retaining walls, the infilling with chalk of the area to the north of the marina and the adjustment of levels to the south side. Because of the nature of the landfilled site, extensive measures were agreed to ensure the safety of the development. These included the use of a non-permeable membrane on the southern side of the marina basin to prevent pollutants leaching into the basin from adjacent areas of landfill, and measure to detect and vent landfill gas (the vents for this system can be across the southern side of the development). The first works in connection with the buildings starting on 28 April 1986.

In May 1987, Arlington applied for outline planning permission to build approx. 100,000 sq.ft. (9290 sq.m.) of shops at Port Solent. However, the City Council refused permission as it was felt that this amount of shopping was more than would be required to serve Port Solent and would have a detrimental impact on existing shops.

Development Programme

The developers, Arlington, decided that the development should be built on a sensibly programmed basis. This ensured that the site could be marketed on a progressive basis, with no element getting ahead or out of sequence of another. Arlington took the role of master developer, however a number of sub-developments were structured where special expertise was required, ensuring that the company's overall programme was achieved. By spreading the responsibility for individual developments in this way Arlington made sure that the project progressed towards completion in the shortest possible timescale. The key elements of the scheme and their developers, are outlined below:-

Marina Basin - Master developer: Arlington/Port Solent Ltd

452 berths.
One of the largest locks in Europe (42m long and 12.5m wide).
Lock control building.
Security of access to and from pontoons controlled by berth holders' intelligent card.

The Porthouse - Master developer: Arlington/Port Solent Ltd

Three storey building, 2351 sq.m. of space.
Base for international yacht charter company.
Private clubhouse/restaurant for berth holders and visitors on top floor.

Waterside Housing - Developer: Higgs and Hills Homes Ltd

Consent for a total of 414 houses and apartments in six phases.
205 berths to be provided for the waterside houses
No buildings higher than four storey.
Range of houses/apartments of two, three and four bedrooms.
Island site containing 71 houses & 34 apartments, plus moorings.

Waterside Apartments - Oyster Quay - Developer: Regalian Properties Ltd

167 two and three bedroom luxury apartments in a six/seven storey block.
Development contains four penthouses.
30 berths reserved for apartment dwellers.
Includes leisure centre with swimming pool, spa pool & gymnasium.

Office Campus No.1. Port Solent - Developer: Capital & Counties Ltd

Over 5574 sq.m. (60,000 sq.ft.) of office space in three storey building divided into two blocks.

The Boardwalk - Developer: Arlington Securities Ltd

6789 sq.m. (73,078 sq.ft.) of mixed retail, offices and food & drink uses
Covered walkway offers all year round shopping in an otherwise sometimes hostile environment.

UCI Cinema - Developer: Arlington Securities Ltd

Granted planning permission in 1990, opened 10 December 1992.
Six screens ranging from 190 to 318 seats.
Building constructed over 460 spaces staff car.

The Slipway - Developer: Arlington Securities Ltd

3356 sq.m. of marine sales and services.
Contains a major chandlers and yacht brokerage.
Can undertake boat repairs as well as fitting out of new vessels.
40 ton travel hoist can lift most vessels out for maintenance/winter storage.
300 dry berths for winter laying up.

South Lockside Apartments - Developer: Persimmon Homes

Granted planning permission July 1998
6 Linked blocks of three, four and five storeys to form 76 flats
152 parking spaces.

A site was allocated in the original outline planning permission for a 90 bedroom hotel with 110 car parking spaces on the south side of the Marina Basin. However no proposals have been submitted to date for a hotel, and the site is currently used for additional car parking and boat storage.

On 20 April 1988 the marina locks were opened for business, flooding the marina for the first time. The honour went to Sir Alex Rose, KB, sailing "Lively Lady" as the first vessel to enter the new complex.

The Princess Royal officially opened the £200 million Port Solent marina (the biggest mixed use marina of its type in Northern Europe) on 29 July 1988. Princess Anne arrived by Royal Barge and unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion.

Boardwalk/UCI Extension Proposals, 1995-1999

In October 1996 Munroe K Ltd., The Boardwalk's management company, submitted a new planning application. It proposed eleven additional retail units, four restaurant/food units, new terracing to The Boardwalk, a new leisure club (containing a 25m swimming pool, dance studio and fitness arena), six screen extension to the UCI cinema, a lighthouse feature, alterations to the road layout and extension of the parking are to provide a total of 1650 spaces.

The application was called in so that the decision could be made by the Secretary of State for the Environment (rather than the City Council, as would usually happen) as the proposal was a departure from the local plan (ie. Not in accordance with the policies in the city's Local Plan). It was also a sufficiently large leisure development to be judged against national policy guidance. This application was subsequently withdrawn by the developers in October 1997, when they submitted a revised planning application.

The revised application proposed a four screen extension to the multiplex cinema, ten shops, three restaurant/food & drink units and lighthouse feature with associated access, parking & landscaping. Although scaled down from the previous application, this application was again called in and the application withdrawn.

Expansion Proposals, Early 2000

In January 2000, the city council granted planning permission for the construction of a health and fitness centre at Port Solent, on land to the south of The Boardwalk. The centre would include a walled outdoor training pool, retail shop, health/beauty salon and day nursery for up to 50 children. This development would take up part of the existing car park, however the lost spaces can re-provided, along with new ones, as part of a planning permission for additional car parking approved in November 1998. This involves the realignment of Port Way and the creation of 261 car parking spaces to the south east of Port Solent.

Planning consent was granted on 31st January 2000 for an additional restaurant and new retail shop over a glazed walkway (containing lifts & escalators) between the existing boardwalk and the UCI cinema. However this has now been superseded by a more recent planning application, submitted at the beginning of April 2000. This proposes the construction of a new, single storey block of 5 shops (to the east of the new health & fitness centre), a 2 storey restaurant, and a single storey café over car parking and adjacent to a 30m high lighthouse feature to the south west of the health and fitness centre.

This latest proposal is intended by the developers to remedy perceived deficiencies in the retail environment at Port Solent, achieving a 'critical mass' of retail and food & drink uses. If implemented, the proposals would result in 1,466 sq m of additional gross floorspace (a 10% increase on the existing Boardwalk). The lighthouse is intended as a decorative feature only (not containing a revolving light source) to mark the main pedestrian entrance to the Boardwalk.

The traffic impact of any new development at Port Solent is obviously a key issue. As part of this proposal, the developers and City Council are proposing a legal agreement under section 106 of the Town 7 Country Planning Act regarding the developers contributing to improved public transport, agreeing to phase development so that the new retail proposal is not implemented until the new car parking are approved in November 1998 is in place, and not implementing the permission approved in January for a single new restaurant and retail unit.

Public Transport Improvements

In January 2000, Portsmouth City Council published 'The Western Transport Corridor Study', which looked at ways of connecting the various attractions and development sites on the western side of Portsmouth (including Port Solent, Tipner, the City Centre, Historic Dockyard, Gunwharf and Southsea), so as to manage potential congestion and parking problems. In particular the study looked at the possibilities and practicalities of operating a park & ride scheme, initially bus based, but potentially also using a monorail system in the longer term.

Port Solent has been identified as potentially having a role in such a strategy as a satellite park & ride site (the main site possibly being located at Tipner). It is estimated that a small portion of the open space to the south of Port Solent could accommodate around 500 ' 600 vehicles.

A bus based park & ride scheme is also likely to make use of proposals for a fixed pedestrian/cycle/public transport link which form part of the 'Gateway' project (centred on environmental improvements along the M275/Mile End corridor). This proposal would provide a new link along the southern boundary of the reclaimed Paulsgrove tip (due to end operations in 2008) and across a new bridge/causeway over Tipner Lake, to the west of the existing M275 bridge.

Summary

The Port Solent Complex has produced many benefits for the local area and on a wider basis. The £200 million investment in the original scheme created over 600 new jobs, as well as consolidating many existing ones in marine and leisure related industries. Port Solent has also become a showplace for the maritime industry, which forms such a significant part of the Hampshire economy, raising the profile of the industry and the are in general internationally.

The scheme has shown that a former waste tip, planned and developed with care and forethought, can create a new and successful centre for both residents and visitors alike.

This information sheet has been extracted from the Portsmouth City Council web site. The original text can be located here: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/pcc//residents/yourcouncil/planning/cplpan/infshs/inf/cplPortSol.cfm