This week, following the ‘Pause and Rethink’ on Tipner West at the last council session, council leaders were forced to bring a 600-page report explaining the options for Tipner’s future in the upcoming Local Plan. The Trust attended the meeting to deliver a deputation on behalf of ourselves and our RSPB colleagues and what we heard shocked us.  

The meeting started with passionate appeals by local residents who don’t want to see the rich bounty of nature on Tipner’s protected mudflats lost forever to land reclamation. Our deputation countered some of the myths being spread by council leaders in a shoddy attempt to make the super-peninsula more palatable to residents: 

1 – Portsmouth City Council are using housing targets as an excuse  

Housing targets from central government have been cited repeatedly as the main driver for the super-peninsula but the council has made no attempt to go through the proper ‘exceptional circumstances’ process that could get this target reduced. Instead, they have resorted to splashy political letters to ministers, asking them to intervene directly which is unlikely to work.  

Until council leaders have done their due diligence by trying to reduce this target, we don’t accept that they can blame the housing target for nature’s destruction at Tipner West. 

2 – Portsmouth City Council are pretending there are no other workable options to the super-peninsula  

Council leaders have made a great show of concern that if they don’t meet the terms of a ‘City Deal’ negotiated with government to develop the Tipner West super-peninsula, they will be forced to return £48.5M of funding, a shocking loss for the city.  

Lennox Point (the super-peninsula) is, 'The only scheme that meets the criteria for the City Deal therefore the £48.75M of grant funding’ - para 6.11.1 of the cabinet report to council

Since Labour, Conservative and Progressive People’s Party councillors forced a report on alternatives to be published, we have now discovered that is false. We were shocked to see that several options exist that supply the 1,250 homes and 30,000sqm of marine employment space mentioned for Tipner West in the City Deal, without the destructive land -reclamation, including one revealingly called the ‘City Deal Option.’ 

3 – The Tipner-West super-peninsula is a foolish and reckless risk  

Given how stringent habitat regulations and protections are for SPAs (Special Protected Areas), like the Tipner coastline, there is a significant probability that the super-peninsula would be rejected if submitted as part of the Local Plan in 2022. This would put the entire Local Plan at risk of failure due to this dangerous vanity project. If, on the other hand, the super-peninsula is unexpectedly approved, it would create a ‘Portsmouth Precedent’ to argue that any protected site for nature in the country can be torn up for housing development. Either way, the Tipner West super-peninsula is by far the most foolhardy and cavalier option for development that council leaders could choose. 

What's next?  

Despite strong opposition in the meeting by the Conservative, Labour and Progressive Portsmouth People Group councillors, Portsmouth Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson rejected calls for scrapping the super-peninsula calling it the most ‘financially viable’ option for the city. Council planning lead Cllr Hugh Mason revealed his disdain for the protected mudflats, saying that no one would want to build houses overlooking ‘some mud’ and Tipner’s local representative, Cllr Leo Madden, said he was sure that the birds that rely on the mudflats can just ‘fly away’ to live somewhere else. Out of sight, out of mind it seems.  

By March, the council is wanting to confirm the option for Tipner West in the Local Plan – through a cross party working group with other councillors. It is important for everyone in that group to push the council cabinet to accept a new vision for Tipner West that works for people and nature, most likely based on one of the existing alternative options detailed in the 600-page report. We know there are now a viable range of alternatives to the Lennox Point super-peninsula that meet the City Deal requirements and deliver marine employment with a more sustainable level of housing, whilst also protecting and enhancing the protected sites for nature. 

It is time for Portsmouth City Council to stop spreading falsehoods and show some true leadership. It is time to scrap the super-peninsula and create a new vision for Tipner West where the wonderful wildlife on Tipner’s shores is protected for future generations of local residents to enjoy.