No time to get cold feet on visionary £1bn project

It is to be hoped Portsmouth City Council does not get cold feet because of calls for a rethink over £1bn plans to relcaim land at Tipner West for housing and employment. Not a pile has been laid nor a shovel scraped yet £10m has already been spent on the project which, some say, is a huge gamble.

Some £4.6m has been spent on planning consultants ,£3.8 mon snapping up land and £600,000 on survey costs.

As we report today, the Liberal Democrat administration has agreed to fork out another £7.5m in preparing a planning application and land acquisition. Talks are ongoing over the sale of the John Pounds scrapyard with a deal struck but not finalised.

All of this is being spent while wildlife conservationists and heritage experts warn against the ambitious 140-acre scheme, now called Lennox Point.

Computer-generated images of the proposals show a stunning new waterfront, with gleaming buildings and a car-free environment enabled by low carbon public transport.

We said at the time the plans were visionary but not without risk, and so it is proving.

Predictably there are myriad viewpoints to consider, not least the environmental lobby and those who wonder whether Portsmouth’s infrastructure could cope with such a massive new community in its midst.

But consider the benefits – thousands of new homes, a new waterfront to explore; huge opportunities for new employment.

Portsmouth made the mistake a generation ago of not investing enough in its city centre, and we are now left with a dwindling commercial zone, while neighbouring Southampton thrives.

Tipner West represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to start building the Portsmouth of the future.

Caution and investment are needed in equal measure. But don’t call the whole thing off.