Decision on 800 homes at Tipner East in Portsmouth is deferred after last-minute flooding concerns

Both objections, from the Environment Agency and the five-council organisation responsible for the area’s flood defences, were submitted earlier this week, days before Portsmouth City Council’s planning committee was due to consider the Vivid planning application at its Wednesday meeting.

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Simon Turner, the council’s acting head of development management, said the two organisations had raised a range of ‘important’ issues and that these could not be resolved in time.

‘The application needs to be deferred because of objections from the Environment Agency and the Coastal Partners received on Monday – after publication of the [committee] report,’ he said. ‘It is regrettable, but there are some important objection points raised by the agency in particular concerning flood emergency planning, co-ordination with the Coastal Partners, the details of the sea wall and up-to-date data – not something that’s resolvable in less than two days.’

He said the council would work with Vivid and the two objectors in a bid to bring the application back for a decision ‘as soon as possible’.

The planning application proposes the construction of 835 homes, the majority of which will be flats in several 11-storey waterfront blocks. Of these, 250 will be affordable, mostly for rent.

Council planning officers had recommended the scheme for approval.

They said there was ‘significant planning benefit in redeveloping this vacant site’.

But the two objections raising concerns over details of the flood defences have put the scheme on hold.

Laura Lax, a senior planning advisor for the Environment Agency, said a new flood risk assessment needed to be produced and the ground level raised to address these issues.

‘We have concerns over the potential for a tide-locking scenario following an extreme rainfall event combined with an extreme tidal event,’ she said.

These concerns were echoed by Amy Adams, a coastal engineer for Coastal Partners which manages flood defences for Fareham, Gosport, Portsmouth, Havant and Chichester councils.

Speaking at Wednesday’s planning committee meeting, Cllr Hugh Mason questioned the last-minute submission of their objections to be submitted, saying it made things ‘much more difficult’.

But Mr Turner said they had been ‘prompt’ and were responding to information that was only submitted in December.

Joyce Ferguson, Vivid’s group development director, said the organisation would be submitting ‘additional supporting information’ in light of the deferral.