Planning Team – What we do

Portsmouth is a Unitary Authority and a key member of the Partnership for South Hampshire (PuSH) that works collaboratively with the boroughs, districts and other cities that make up this vibrant and diverse part of the country.

Partnerships are at the heart of what we do. Working with the PuSH partnership, planners are managing growth and opportunity across the region, and as part of a unitary authority the planners work in tandem with the Highway Authority and access expertise across the full range of local government functions.

Our partnerships tackle the big planning issues in the region and Portsmouth planners are at the heart of this.

Bird Aware Solent is a nationally recognised, award winning mitigation partnership managed from within the Portsmouth Planning Service, supporting the delivery of growth in an area surrounded by protected designated habitat. And the Coastal Partners bring together planning, engineering and project management to deliver flood defence for the wider Portsmouth area.

Like many historic cities there are needs and opportunities for larger scale regeneration. Strategic new communities form a key part of the Cities Plan, and the Planning Service is championing the delivery of high quality, sustainable new communities with green space, residents’ stewardship and infrastructure delivery as guiding principles. Portsmouth has recently adopted its first Neighbourhood Plan, with other communities just starting on this journey.

Within the city, Tipner and Victory Quay, a project shortlist for the Planning Award for Regeneration 2023, will provide an opportunity for over 2000 new homes with an advance marine employment zone. Somers Orchard replaces unsafe former council housing with a modern, renewed estate driven by a Design Code produced under government’s piloting of the NMDC. A re-designation of former parking and retail space in the city centre will create a new high-rise residential neighbourhood with green space at its core.

Working with colleagues in the Highway Authority and Infrastructure teams this new growth is supported with new transport infrastructure. Portsmouth provides a special opportunity to encourage low-car usage, more sustainable and active transport. The planning service is leading on delivering a new multi-modal transport hub as well as creating the environment to allow the shift from cars to buses, bikes and eScooters.

Voted as the coolest city outside of London at the end of 2022, Portsmouth has a lot of wonderful assets to preserve. With over 600 Listed Buildings and 25 Conservation Areas, mostly in an area a little over 24km² of Portsea Island, planners are privileged to be the custodians of such an important part of the UKs heritage.

This cultural heritage can be seen throughout the city and Portsmouth Planners have the chance to deliver heritage led regeneration at all scales as well as innovative historic environments on the seafront and military spaces in the City.

With over 11m people coming to the City a year, a major international port and the UKs only operating passenger hovercraft service, the visitor economy gives Portsmouth planners the chance to plan for an exciting and growing tourism sector.

The team works closely with Southern Water and with our highways maintenance contractor Colas, to protect the city during heavy rainfall. Recent major investment and surface water separation has led to a significant reduction in incidents of flooding. They are also supporting the city’s green strategy through the provision of rain gardens and attenuation linked to trees and shrubs.

The team monitors ground water tables and has statutory functions around surface water management and flood protection strategies.

The Southsea Coastal Scheme has been highly commended in the sustainability category in the 2023 Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards.

The team is committed to being a zero-waste construction scheme, developing its own waste processing site to achieve this goal. At this site, all concrete and stone from the old sea defences is processed and reused as fill material for new sea defences and road raising. This will prevent sending 92,000t of waste to landfill, avoid 24,600 lorry movements to remove the waste, and save 3,950t of CO2 – a 98% reduction compared with landfilling!

So far the Southsea Coastal Scheme has installed 58 tide pools to enhance marine life. These concrete pools are designed to create ecosystems that mimic natural rock pools found on rocky coastlines. The team also works with Natural England to provide mitigation measures to protect the overwintering Brent geese and the endangered purple sandpiper birds.