Portsmouth Tipner East housing plans on hold over flood fears

A major new waterfront housing development has been put on hold after concerns were raised about flooding.

Housing association Vivid submitted plans for 835 homes in 11-storey tower blocks at Tipner East in Portsmouth.

Portsmouth City Council deferred its planning decision after last-minute objections from the Environment Agency (EA) and flood management specialists.

Council planners had recommended the scheme for approval but said "important" issues had been raised.

Vivid acquired the site, which previously had a range of industrial uses, in 2021.

It said 250 of the residential units, mostly flats, would be made available under affordable sale or rental arrangements, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The EA and Coastal Partners, which manages flood defences for Fareham, Gosport, Portsmouth, Havant and Chichester councils, both raised objections over details of the scheme's flood defences

The EA's Laura Lax said a new flood risk assessment needed to be produced and the ground level raised in a bid 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 told a meeting of the council's planning committee.

Joyce Ferguson, Vivid's group development director, said it would submit "additional supporting information" following the deferral.

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