I would like to make people aware of
Portsmouth City Council’s attitude to the redevelopment of premises in the
Fawcett Road area of Southsea.
In December 2010 The Royal Exchange on
Fawcett Road sadly closed its doors for the last time. The Enterprise-owned pub
was admittedly not the highest-class of establishment but it did still serve a
community purpose.
The pub was a combination of the original
corner plot and an extension into the terraced house next door. Since then the
pub has been sold and is in the process of being converted back into two plots
– reinstating the adjoining terrace house and the pub being converted into
flats.
The area surrounding the pub has recently
been incorporated into a parking permit scheme and the first parking permit
free areas being Bramble Road, Talbot Road, Shanklin Road and Ventnor Road.
The original pub had a garage to the rear,
which I believe the landlord had converted into a gym. Nevertheless it was
still a garage and could potentially house a car.
When looking through the council’s website
I stumbled across the proposed development. I was alarmed to see that it was
the intention of the developer to turn the pub into three flats (one three-bed
and two two-bed) and a two-bedroom terrace house.
A quick calculation would lead even the
simplest person to assume that at least a few of these new occupants will have
cars. Previously the pub had one family that lived above it and was catered for
by the garage space. Patrons to the pub tended not to arrive by car, as they
would most likely be partaking in a few alcoholic beverages.
Now the area that is already groaning
under the pressure of being adjacent to the MB Orchard Road parking permit
scheme will have potentially 20 new cars introduced to it (assuming that each
room hosts an adult couple). TWENTY CARS!
Below is the council’s response to the
problem. Three bike storage sheds. Yes, that’s right, three bike storage sheds.
Don’t forget that Fawcett Road is
relatively near to Fratton Station and residents can get on an overpriced,
unreliable train service. Or they can wait for an overpriced number 15 bus that
makes its way down Fawcett Road every hour from 7am-8pm, depositing passengers
in Portsmouth City Centre or at the Hayling Ferry.
Sadly nothing can be down to stop the
decline of the British pub, or in fact the decline of some of the smaller shops
along Fawcett Road, but Portsmouth City Council need to take into consideration
that allowing developers to transform their empty carcasses into houses is not
necessarily the answer. Parking is already a problem for many of the city’s
residents and PCC should consider that when they are granting developers
permission to transform the fundamental nature of premises. If that change
means more residents, then it will mean more cars, and developers need to incorporate
parking provision into their plans. Not like in the case of The Royal Exchange,
take it away.
The response from Portsmouth City Council
12/00418/FUL Central Southsea
124 Fawcett Road Southsea PO4 0DW
Conversion
of former public house to form 3 flats (1
x 3 bed and 2 x 2 bed); external alterations to include new windows and
doors
One representation has been received from
the occupier of a property in a neighbouring road raising concerns about the
lack of parking provision associated with the proposal due to the recent
introduction of the Orchard Road parking scheme.
Planning
permission has been previously granted (in November 2011) for the conversion of
the former pub to an 8-bedroom house in multiple occupation, which is
considered to confirm the acceptability of the change of use of the premises to
a residential use. This permission did not include any provision of off-street
car parking and none was associated with the former public house. Having regard
to previous permission, the location of the site in an area of high
accessibility to public transport and its proximity to the services and
amenities located within the nearby Fawcett Road Local Centre (50 metres to the
north), it is considered that a car free development is acceptable. The
proposal is considered to represent an appropriate form of development that
would not significantly affect the amenities of the occupiers of neighbouring
properties. The proposed external alterations to the building are considered
acceptable in both design and heritage terms (included on the list of locally
important buildings).
Mr Simon
Barnett Tel: 023 9284 1281 Conditional Permission
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