The council has worked closely with the local community to find a suitable future use for the site of the derelict former utility store in the Portsmouth Museum grounds, in Museum Road, Southsea.
In early 2020 we started a conversation with local people to find out how they would feel about using the site for appropriate and sensitively designed homes – possibly for older people.
In summer 2021 the council published the following three reports:
- An independent report (suitability appraisal) which shows that the building is unsuitable for use as a Conan Doyle Museum.
- An independent report (condition survey) which demonstrates the significant costs to retain and stabilise the building – costs which would rise should the building be used as a museum.
- A detailed breakdown of all of the feedback we collected from the local community and stakeholders in an extensive community engagement programme in 2020 in which we asked the people living closest to the site how they would feel about using the site for appropriate and sensitively designed homes.
The site is owned by the council’s housing service and that service is reviewing the options for the site. We will report back to the local community when we have looked even more closely at how the site could be used in the future.
To find out more, and to have your say, call Tim Raw on 07901 100537 or email tim.raw@portsmouthcc.gov.uk