The Portsmouth Society - News
| News | Pompey Stadium and Village | |
| Earlier news | The scheme for the rearrangement of the Fratton Park Stadium and its accompanying
village of blocks of flats of varying heights up to 20+ storeys was approved
by the Development Control Committee on July 28. We objected to both on
design grounds. What is proposed is not a new stadium but a rearrangement, turning the ground through ninety degrees with the building of three new stands. The result is not visually pleasing and not nearly as good as the same architects designed for the stadium that was proposed but never built at Farlington. In order to help pay for the stadium the club are to build a village of blocks of flats, totalling 530 apartments, also inferior in quality of architecture to those designed by the same architects at Gunwharf, which will partly hide the stadium. Design Panel's view We asked the new Regional Design Panel sponsored by the South East England Development Agency to look at the designs. Their report was quite severe. "In summary the planning application should be achieving far better standards. The structure of the masterplan is flawed, the scale of the blocks is alien and uncomfortable which, coupled with the lack of quality in the architecture, will be damaging to the long term success of this development. The massing one can only suspect is being influenced by the need to finance the adjacent stadium, not by good urban design. . . . It is an exercise in maximising short term values, not delivering something of enduring quality that will be sustainable and cherished". As part of our deputation we showed the committee, as an example of what could be done, the designs for the Heritage Car Park in Queen Street, a development of a similar size. An asset to the City .. In refusing to finance improvements to Fratton Station, the planning gain we had suggested, the Club took the view that they were providing an asset to the city. They could not be expected to pay extra for the privilege. If the city wanted first class football they couldn't expect improvements to the infrastructure without paying for it. This was the view taken presumably the committee. For the achievement of this great goal one had to overlook little matters of architecture and urban design. RJ |