Resident engagement – get involved

View the below feedback in booklet format.

Thank you to all the local people who gave us their feedback and opinions on the plans to build new family homes and improve landscaping in Maxstoke Car Park, Maxstoke Close, Somerstown.

We know that any potential development work would affect local people so we wanted to ask as many of you as possible for your thoughts because we want to include your views, feedback and opinions in the design process, if we start to put together plans.

How we reached out to you

1. We sent 1,000 fliers to the closest 1,000 addresses
2. We promoted two public drop-in sessions on social media and in the local news
3. We put up two vinyl banners advertising two public drop-in sessions and an online survey
4. We put up 400 posters locally on lamp posts and in some businesses

How we listened to you

1. Public drop-in session at Somerstown Central (The Hub) on Thursday 21 July, 5pm – 7.30pm
2. Public drop-in session at Somerstown Central (The Hub) on Friday 22 July, 7.30am – 9.30am
3. Online survey option launched on 15 June with QR codes advertised on flyers and posters
4. Email option offered on posters and flyers
5. Telephone option offered

At the sessions, we listened to the feedback and concerns of local people. We put all of these comments together in a database and created a report from that information. This report will be passed on to the designers and architects to consider if the development progresses.

Feedback from the sessions

In total we had 92 comments from around 46 visitors at the sessions, as well as some online survey and written responses.

Things local people had concerns about

• Parking and traffic (31 comments)
• Local housing situation (15 comments)
• Design and build of the properties (14 comments)
• Landscaping and the environment (13 comments)
• Public services and amenities (7 comments)
• Crime and anti-social behaviour (4 comments)
• Suggestions for other sites (4 comments)
• Positive feedback (4 comments)

Based on what local people have told us, we will:

• Keep the local community informed at every stage of the design and
  build process, if the project progresses.
• Keep in mind, at all times, that this work will affect local people and
  that we must do everything we can to keep any inconvenience to an
  absolute minimum.
• Build only high quality, energy efficient, affordable, council homes that
  are appropriate for the site.
• Preserve as much green space, and as many trees, as we possibly can.
• Remember that it is important that we provide a sensible solution to
  the loss of parking spaces on this site – a solution that works for as
  many of the people who currently use the car park as possible.

What happens next?

We will take what you have told us is most important to you and we will use that information to help guide us as we move through the design and build process.

We will keep you informed throughout the project if it progresses.

Any questions?

Please contact Kat Bement by emailing katherine.bement@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or by calling 07901 100 537

View the below feedback in booklet format.

Thank you to all the local people who gave us their feedback and opinions on the plans to build new family homes and improve landscaping in Bunting Gardens. View the plans.

We know that development work will affect local people so we wanted to ask as many of you as possible for your thoughts because we want to include your views, feedback and opinions in the design and building process where possible.

How we reached out to you

1. We sent 1,000 fliers to the closest 1,000 addresses
2. We posted on social media advertising two public open drop-in sessions
3. We put up 300 posters in the area including some local businesses

How we listened to you

1. Public drop-in session at The Acorn Centre on Wednesday 15 June, 7.30am – 9.30am
2. Public drop-in session at The Acorn Centre on Thursday 16 June, 5pm – 7pm
3. Email and telephone options were available

At the sessions, we displayed all current plans and available information for the development. We took down people’s initial comments and opinions about the plans. We put all of these comments together in a database and created a report from that information. This report has been passed on to the designers and architects to consider as the development progresses.

How we listened to you

• In total we had 174 comments from 60 visitors at our drop-in sessions.
• 41 of those comments were about things local people liked.
• 133 of those comments were about things local people had concerns about.

Things local people liked:

• The plans (21 comments)
• The landscaping and planting (7 comments)
• The eco design (5 comments)
• Ability to see the plans which put their minds at ease (4 comments)
• Agreeing on the need for housing (4 comments)

Things local people had concerns about:

• Parking (34 comments)
• Green space (17 comments)
• Complaints about housing development in general (12 comments)
• Trees / wildlife (8 comments)
• Anti-social behaviour (7 comments)
• Roads (7 comments)
• Drainage / flooding (6 comments)
• Miscellaneous (5 comments)
• Build somewhere else (5 comments)
• Complaints about being a tenant (5 comments)
• Engagement (4 comments)
• Unsupportive of the idea (4 comments)
• Not big enough (3 comments)
• Neutral – further comments and questions (3 comments)
• Design concerns (1 comment)

Based on what local people have told us, we will:

• Provide ten new parking spaces for the three new houses and ensure that this development does not result in the loss of any existing parking spaces.
• Carry out a detailed review of existing parking in the Bunting Gardens area and look at providing
  additional parking spaces for existing residents where possible.
• Consult with the Highways Authority, and carry out any additional work that they recommend, to ensure that the proposed development does not adversely impact on the existing road network.
• Retain all existing trees and plant additional trees on the site.
• Ensure our landscaping and planting enhances biodiversity.
• Employ a specialist drainage engineer to carry out a flood risk assessment and use sustainable urban drainage solutions to ensure that the proposed development does not result in any increased flood risk.
• Improve the outdoor lighting around the site by adding new street lighting.
• Work with other bodies, including Hampshire County Council and Havant Borough Council, to
  address other issues raised by local residents that are outside of Portsmouth City Council’s remit.

What happens next?

We will take what you have told us is most important to you and we will use that information to help guide us as we move through the design and build process.

We will keep you informed throughout the project as it progresses.

Any questions?

Please contact Kat Bement by emailing katherine.bement@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or by calling 07901 100 537

View the below feedback in booklet format.

Thank you to all the local people who told us what they would like us to think about if we put together plans for Paulsgrove Community Centre, library and nearby open space in the future.

We know that any potential development work would affect local people so we wanted to ask as many of you as possible for your thoughts because we want to include your views, feedback and opinions in them design process if we start to put together plans.

What is the project about?

We want to build a new community centre and library for Paulsgrove. We also want to make sure that the nearby open space, which includes the sports pitches, is working well for the local community.

You’ll see from the feedback we collected, which is all included here, that while we were asking as many Paulsgrove people as possible about the community centre, library and open spaces, one of the issues that was most important to the local community was the potential for improvements to Paulsgrove as a whole. We have listened to these comments from local people and that’s why we are looking at things that can be done to improve the wider area beyond the scope of the community centre.

How we reached out to you

1. We hand delivered 5,516 flyers to every address in Paulsgrove.
2. We posted on social media advertising a public open drop-in session; Party for Paulsgrove.
3. We put up 750 posters in the area which included QR codes linking people to the online survey.
4. We put up three banners at the community centre, shopping precinct, and park.
5. People were able to write their thoughts and ideas on a large noticeboard at the community centre.

How we listened to you

1. We hosted Party for Paulsgrove on 30 June, 2022. It swapped free ice-cream, cakes, face painting, arts, crafts and sports activities for more than 320 completed feedback forms. It also featured local authorities, community groups and partner organisations running stalls and activities.
2. An online survey and email and telephone options were available.

How local people told us their opinions

This is how 611 local people told us what they thought:

• 326 people have their feedback at Party for Paulsgrove
• 136 people commented online
• 104 came to our pop-up engagement stalls in Allaway Avenue shopping precinct
• 35 people left feedback forms in comment boxes
• 7 people emailed us their feedback
• 3 people gave their feedback over the phone

What people said was important to them:

Children and families (174 comments)

• More activities for children and families (71 comments)
• More facilities for children and families (44 comments)
• More clubs for children and families (33 comments)
• Soft play and other play areas (21 comments)
• More support for local families (5 comments)

Sport, fitness and games (173 comments)

• Add more sport and exercise classes, clubs and groups (64 comments)
• Improve sports offer (53 comments)
• Swimming pool (28 comments)
• Improve gym offer (20 comments)
• Improve games offer (8 comments)

Clubs and events (127 comments)

• Improve social and community offer (88 comments)
• Improve arts and culture offer (39 comments)

What did people say about:

The community centre (76 comments)

• Better advertising of activities and offers (20 comments)
• Modernise centre and facilities (15 comments)
• Disco or party space for socialising (10 comments)
• Positive comments about the community centre (9 comments)
• Affordable room hire (7 comments)
• Facilities and activities for all ages (5 comments)
• Enlarge centre and improve design (4 comments)
• Community stage and music equipment (3 comments)
• Improve toilets (2 comments)
• Wouldn’t use a community centre (1 comment)

Teenagers (74 comments)

• More age appropriate, free and enriching activities (24 comments)
• Keep teenagers off the streets by offering activities (19 comments)
• Youth club (13 comments)
• Expanded youth services and groups (12 comments)
• Food and drink offer for teenagers (2 comments)
• More family entertainment activities (2 comments)
• Learning and skills support for teenagers (1 comments)
• Graffiti wall (1 comment)

Outdoor space (58 comments)

• Improve local parks, play equipment and skate park (23 comments)
• Preserve or improve green space (19 comments)
• Improve local outdoor sports offer (16 comments)

Café, food and drink (56 comments)

• Preserve or improve the café offer (25 comments)
• More varied food options (23 comments)
• More varied drink options (8 comments)

Library (35 comments)

• Improve book, story-teller and reading group offer (15 comments)
• Bigger, better library (13 comments)
• More library activities, services and events (7 comments)

Shops and local amenities (35 comments)

• More not-for-profit facilities (20 comments)
• More food and drink outlets (11 comments)
• More businesses (4 comments)

Babies and toddlers (33 comments)

• More groups for babies and toddlers (21 comments)
• More facilities for babies and toddlers (12 comments)

Accessibility, inclusion, equality and diversity (24 comments)

• Accessible for everyone (10 comments)
• SEND clubs and activities (10 comments)
• Inclusive for all (4 comments)

Parking, transport, roads and footpaths (24 comments)

• Improve parking (12 comments)
• Improve roads and footpaths (9 comments)
• Improve public transport (3 comments)

Location, design, quality and layout (23 comments)

• Other locations suggested (8 comments)
• Keep the community centre where it is (6 comments)
• Layout, footprint and access (6 comments)
• Move to a new location (3 comments)

Crime and anti-social behaviour (21 comments)

• More police presence and liaison (8 comments)
• Reduce crime, particularly knife crime (7 comments)
• Deal with electric bikes and scramblers (2 comments)
• Improved CCTV coverage (2 comments)
• Night time safety (2 comments)

Service and skills (21 comments)

• Classes and courses (14 comments)
• Advice and support groups (7 comments)

Splash park and sand park (21 comments)

• Design (14 comments)
• Opening hours (7 comments)

Elderly people (19 comments)

• More social activities and groups for older people (14 comments)
• Dinners and evening groups for older people (5 comments)

Feedback on Party for Paulsgrove (19 comments)

• Positive feedback (18 comments)
• Constructive Criticism (1 comment)

Paulsgrove (15 comments)

• Positive comments about Paulsgrove (7 comments)
• Suggested improvements to Paulsgrove (6 comments)
• Negative comments about Paulsgrove (2 comments)

Environment (13 comments)

• Bins, litter and maintenance (9 comments)
• Eco-friendly build (4 comments)

Landscaping (12 comments)

• Plant more trees, flowers and a community garden (10 comments)
• Improve landscaping (2 comments)

Dogs (11 comments)

• Make the development dog friendly (6 comments)
• Include a dog park (5 comments)

Health and wellbeing (11 comments)

• Mental health (5 comments)
• Community support (3 comments)
• Healthy eating (2 comments)
• Wellbeing (1 comments)

Based on what local people have told us, we will:

• Design a high quality, modern, energy efficient facility.
• Design a flexible facility that enables a wide and diverse programme of activities to benefit the health and wellbeing of everybody in the local community.
• Include sport, fitness, and social facilities that meet all of the varied needs of local people of all ages and abilities.
• Preserve as much green space and as many trees as possible and include space for exercising dogs.
• Ensure that the scheme promotes sustainable transport and has as low an impact as possible on parking and traffic congestion in the local area.
• Include a food and drink offer that provides a safe, social space for the local community.
• Share the feedback we have collected with partner health, youth and play services.
• Speak to the police about ways to use our design to relieve anti-social behaviour and crime issues in the local area.
• Keep the local community at the heart of the design and build process.

What happens next?

We will take what you have told us is most important to you and we will use that information to help guide us as we move through the design and build process.

We will bring these plans to show you as soon as they are ready. At that stage we will ask you what you think of the plans, what you like about them and what you would like to see improved. This will all be done before we apply for planning permission for the development

Any questions?

Please contact Tim Raw by emailing tim.raw@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or by calling 07901 100 537

We’re looking at opportunities for new homes and improvements to landscaping and public spaces for The Warren Park area.

What stage is the project at?

Our engagement team just held Party for The Warren on Saturday 8 July in partnership with Havant Borough Council and Park Community School. It gave locals an opportunity to see and give their feedback on the proposed housing plans, as well as tons of free activities and entertainment to enjoy.

Thank you to everyone who came along – 416 of you filled in a feedback form at the event which shows how important it is for communities to have their say on the areas they live.

We’re now compiling all the feedback to present to the project team. We’ll also create a booklet for residents to show all of the feedback – this will be posted to residents local to The Warren area and will also be made available on our website.

We don’t know when the project will progress, but we’ll keep everyone updated along every step of the way.

What else has happened?

Before drawing up the proposed housing plans, we asked as many of you as possible for your thoughts. Between February and May 2023, we:

• held public drop-in sessions and pop-up stalls
• ran a survey
• went door knocking
• attended a coffee morning
• handed out flyers, posters and comment boxes

You can see everything we did for this stage of the project in this handy booklet, which we also printed and delivered to people living nearest to The Warren Park area.

What are the housing plans?

Whilst plans may still develop, the proposal is to build 237 new affordable homes at The Warren in Leigh Park.

It would be split into multiple phases to reduce strain on the community.

150 homes would be built at the Cabbagefield Row site. The remaining 87 homes would be built between existing houses, blocks and flats (Strouden Court, Linford Court, Retail Precinct, Dummer Court, and Conford Court).

All 237 homes would be built to Passivhaus standards to provide very energy efficient homes with very low heating bills.

As well as promising improved site security, the plans focus on improving biodiversity for the area. New landscaped areas, hedgerows and planting throughout would create new habitats for native species of bats, birds and hedgehogs.

When and if the plans change or progress, we’ll keep everyone updated.

Get in touch

If you’ve got any questions, email Kat Bement or call 07901 100 537.

View the below feedback in booklet format.

Thank you to all the local people who told us what they would like us to think about if we put together plans for new housing on the Hilsea Lodge site, in Gatcombe Drive, in the future.

We know that any potential development work would affect local people so we wanted to ask as many of you as possible for your thoughts because we want to include your views, feedback and opinions in the design process if we start to put together plans.

We heard from 416 local people who gave us 541 different answers to the following:

1. Tell us about the Hilsea Lodge site.
2. We want to build new housing on the Hilsea Lodge site, in Gatcombe Drive.
3. What would you like us to think about if we put together plans in the future?

How we reached out to you

1. We hand delivered over 5,500 flyers to every address in Hilsea
2. We put up three banners around the Hilsea Lodge site
3. We placed QR codes linking people to the online survey on every poster, flyer and banner
4. We put up 500 posters in the Hilsea area

How we listened to you

1. We hosted Party for Hilsea on Saturday 15 October, 12pm – 2pm (over 1,200 people showed up!)
2. We had a pop-up engagement stall and held a walk around Hilsea on Wednesday 9 November, 10am – 3pm
3. Online survey option launched on 15 June with QR codes advertised on flyers and posters
4. Email and telephone options were offered on posters and flyers
5. We placed comment boxes around the area – in shops and other local businesses

At the sessions, we listened to the feedback and concerns of local people. We put all of these comments together in a database and created a report from that information. This report will be passed on to the designers and architects to consider if the development progresses.

How local people told us their opinions

This is how 416 local people told us what they thought:

• 201 people gave their feedback at Party for Hilsea
• 102 people commented online
• We spoke to 51 people walking near Hilsea Lodge
• 31 people left feedback forms in comment boxes
• 23 people emailed their feedback
• 7 people responded by post and one by home visit

What people said was important to them:

• Housing (178 comments)
• Amenities and public services (96 comments)
• Parking, roads and transport (67 comments)
• Young people (44 comments)
• Miscellaneous feedback and critical comments (39 comments)
• Sustainability and the environment (36 comments)
• Community space (24 comments)
• Activities and events (21 comments)
• Wider area (18 comments)
• Sports facilities (13 comments)
• Accessibility (5 comments)

Based on what local people have told us, we will:

• Keep in mind, at all times, that this work will affect local people and that we must do everything we can to keep any inconvenience to an absolute minimum
• Keep the local community updated as the project progresses
• Look into whether we can include supported living, semi-supported living or assisted living homes in the new development
• Keep in mind options to include public communal space and/or a community room
• Design high quality, modern, energy efficient homes that are appropriate for the area
• Not build anything on Gatcombe Gardens
• Ensure that the scheme has as low an impact as possible on parking and traffic congestion in the local area
• Retain as many existing trees as we can
• Work with partner organisations, such as health, youth and play services, by sharing the feedback we have collected, so that they can look at how they can address other issues raised by local residents that are outside of the council’s remit

What happens next?

We will take what you have told us is most important to you and we will use that information, as part of the design process, to help us to put together plans if this project is progressed in the future. We will bring these plans to show you as soon as they are ready.

At that stage we will ask you what you think of the plans, what you like about them and what you would like to see improved.

This will all be done before we apply for planning permission for the development.

Any questions?

Please contact Kat Bement by emailing katherine.bement@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or by calling 07901 100 537

View the below feedback in booklet format.

Thank you to all the local people who gave us their feedback and opinions on the plans to build new family homes and to improve landscaping and parking in Robin Gardens.

We know that any potential development work would affect local people so we wanted to ask as many of you as possible for your thoughts because we want to include your views, feedback and opinions in the design process if we start to put together plans.

How we reached out to you

1. We posted on social media, advertising two public open drop-in sessions
2. We put up three banners locally
3. We advertised the sessions in the local news
4. We put up 500 posters in the area including some local businesses

How we listened to you

1. We held a public drop-in session at Rachel Madocks School on 13 October, 2022 at 5.30 – 6.30pm
2. We held a public drop-in session at Connors Keep, Robin Gardens on 14 October, 2022 at 9.30 – 10.30am. 80 people turned up over the two drop-in sessions.
3. Email and telephone options were offered; we had four email responses and one call

At the sessions, we displayed all current plans and available information for the development.
We took down people’s initial comments and opinions about the plans. We put all of these comments together in a database and created a report from that information. This report will be passed on to the designers and architects to consider as the development progresses.

What people said was important to them

The 292 answers to the open question fell into these 11 categories:

• Landscaping and the environment (49 comments)
• Location of development (38 comments)
• The local area (30 comments)
• Design and build (30 comments)
• Parking and traffic (29 comments)
• Critical and miscellaneous feedback (27 comments)
• Children and play facilities (24 comments)
• Access and construction process (23 comments)
• Infrastructure and public services (19 comments)
• Impact on local residents (16 comments)
• Home ownership and property value (13 comments)

Based on what local people have told us, we will:

• Keep in mind, at all times, that this work will affect local people and that we must do everything we can to keep any inconvenience to an absolute minimum
• Build only high quality, energy efficient, affordable, council homes that are appropriate for the site
• Ensure that the scheme has as low an impact as possible on parking and traffic congestion in the local area
• Retain existing trees where possible (condition issues may require removal of some specimens) and plant additional trees on the site
• Employ a specialist drainage engineer to carry out a flood risk assessment and use sustainable urban drainage solutions to ensure that the proposed development does not result in any increased flood risk
• Improve outdoor lighting around the site by adding new street lighting where appropriate
• Share this booklet with other public bodies, including Hampshire County Council and Havant Borough Council, so that they know what comments local people have made about issues that are outside Portsmouth City Council’s remit
• Carry out a detailed review of existing parking in the Robin Gardens area and look at providing additional parking spaces for existing residents, where appropriate
• Consider improving play facilities in the area through discussions with partner organisations
• Employ a specialist to carry out ecological surveys of the site, to inform the planning application and to assist the development in achieving a net gain in biodiversity to the site
• Keep the local community informed at every stage of the design and build process

What happens next?

We will take what you have told us is most important to you and we will use that information to help guide us as we move through the design and build process.

We will keep you informed throughout the project as it progresses.

Any questions?

Please contact Kat Bement by emailing katherine.bement@portsmouthcc.gov.uk or by calling 07901 100 537