Plans for 212 ‘bland, ugly’ homes at former college site given green light
It is imperative that we get this school into an alternative use and do it as quickly as possible
Plans for 212 “bland” and “ugly” homes at the former St John’s College have been given the green light despite local concerns.
Southsea Village Limited’s planning application for a large residential development has been approved by Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee.
The new development will boast 49 one-bed flats, 138 two-bed flats, 24 threebed flats and one four-bed flat across the grounds of the former independent school which shut its doors for good in the summer of 2022, largely as a result of falling student numbers.
The development plans have received more than 100 objections from local residents, including James Kirby, who raised several concerns to the committee relating to overlooking, loss of natural light along with what he referred to as “gross visual intrusion”.
Mr Kirby added that the Simon Wings, both east and west, should be reduced from three storeys to two in order to avoid overlooking his home – these amendments to the plans would result in the loss of eight apartments.
A spokesperson for the Portsmouth Society described the plans as “out of scale and character for the area under consideration”, which is part of the Owen’s Southsea Conservation Area (OSCA).
The spokesperson explained: “The council established the OSCA in recognition of its national importance.
“What is presented here is bland and characterless.
“It is typical of the kind of generic housing development that can be found anywhere.
“The proposals for the cell block on Grove Road are particularly bad – it’s ugly and not good enough.”
Representing the developer, Nicolas Roach, chairman of the Nicolas James Group, defended the proposal by stressing the importance of reusing the empty buildings.
He said: “You need to be aware that the holding costs of this site are significant.
“We are currently facing weekly break-ins, we’ve also had a number of fires and we’re not going to be able to save all the buildings at St John’s if this carries on.
“It is imperative that we get this school into an alternative use and do it as quickly as possible.
“The situation has been a real struggle.”
According to the development plans, the former St John’s College project will provide a total of 105 parking spaces, which equates to 0.5 spaces per home.
All of the car parking spaces will provide stateof-the-art electric vehicle charging points, together with 375 cycle parking spaces and an additional 38 short-stay cycle spaces.
The plans and the listed building consent were approved with six votes in favour and two abstentions.