We’ll fight all the way to save our green spaces
Residents line up for battle with developers over housing site
CAMPAIGNERS warned they will ‘fight all the way’ to ensure developments for a potential 340 homes in Milton, Portsmouth, are scaled back as much as possible.
Developers have already agreed to reduce house numbers, but residents believe they have not gone far enough for the project.
TENACIOUS city campaigners have warned they will ‘fight all the way’ to ensure developments for a potential 340 homes at least five years in the making is scaled back as much as possible.
Despite developers’ attempts to appease Portsmouth residents by shrinking proposed house numbers and vowing to protect trees on the St James’ Hospital site in Milton, neighbourhood champions have said it is still 'too much.’
The land has been earmarked for development as three separate applications.
One is for a 66-bed care home for Royal Navy veterans in the south of the site submitted by LNT Care Developments Ltd and one for 107 homes replacing the old Harbour School by Homes England.
The other application from developers PJ Livesey Group has been subject to change following two public consultations that were held this summer.
Although it was initially thought there could be 300 homes there, a latest iteration includes 150 homes within the converted hospital building and another 80 in the grounds – of which 30 per cent will be affordable.
Vocal campaigners said they were ‘very pleased’ that PJ Livesey listened to concerns about the number of homes but said there were still a ‘number of issues’.
Kimberly Barrett, the founder of Keep Milton Green, said: ‘We will carry on fighting to make sure we get the best deal, we will fight all the way.
‘We want to keep the home numbers as low as possible, although I don’t think residents will ever feel there’s an acceptable level of properties.
‘Three hundred and forty new homes is too much. You think we’ve got around 4,500 households in Milton, that’s quite a high percentage increase.’
Previous campaigning for the site meant St James’ Park, the cricket pitch and 50 trees there were saved.
Janice Burkenshaw, chairman of the Milton Neighbourhood Forum, said: ‘I think the Milton Neighbourhood Forum welcomes the open mindedness of the developer in listening to our concerns and changing some of the plans.
‘But that doesn’t overcome the issues with traffic, with school provision, the lack of doctors surgeries.’
The forum will hold a meeting in February next year for residents, which PJ Livesey will attend to answer questions.
A decision on all three applications as yet to be made by Portsmouth City Council.
Leader Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: ‘I still think they’re asking to build too much and trying to build on open space.’
But PJ Livesey director, James Woodmansee, said: ‘The scheme has changed following the useful responses we have received from the two consultation events we held and has also been improved from our dialogue with members, local groups such as Milton Neighbourhood Forum and Portsmouth City Council.’
St James’ Hospital was sold to PJ Livesey by NHS Property Services subject to a planning application approval. The group will submit the application in December or January. A neighbouring site – the former Langstone Campus for the University of Portsmouth – could also be subject to housing development in the future.
In a city as denselypopulated as Portsmouth, every square inch of green space really matters. Little wonder, then, that residents in Milton are concerned about the impact of development at the site of St James’ Hospital.
The former mental hospital, an architectural treasure in its own right, sits within acres of parkland and provides one of the few green lungs among the streets of houses in the northern part of the city.
But Portsmouth planners will have to rule on three applications for the whole site.
Developers want to build 230 homes in the main hospital area, including 150 in the existing hospital, the exterior fabric of which will be retained.
But there are also plans for 107 homes in the area replacing the old Harbour School as well as a 66-bed care home for veterans in the south of the site.
The bottom line is that neighbourhood groups, residents, and the leader of Portsmouth City Council think the applicants are trying to cram too much on to the site.
It is a delicate balancing act to satisfy the need for more homes in an already crowded city with the aspirations of developers who, after all, need to make a profit, and of the people who already live here who fear a much-loved area will be spoiled forever.
The Keep Milton Green campaign is determined to keep fighting its corner. Founder Kimberly Barrett said: ‘We will fight all the way.’
There do not have to be winners and losers in a case like this and Portsmouth City Council holds the aces.
Planners have a duty to ensure that new homes are built for future generations, but also to ensure they do not incur the wrath of local residents.
If that means curbing the ambitions of developers, so be it.
There may have to be compromise on both sides, but it must be possible to reach a solution that is good for the city.