Southsea Debenhams flats plan decision delegated to council officer

The plans for the former Debenhams store will include a two-storey extension

A decision on whether to approve a plan to develop a former Debenhams store into 134 flats has been delegated to a senior planning officer.

The site on Palmerston Road in Southsea, Portsmouth, would also contain a GP practice at ground level.

Members of Portsmouth City Council's planning committee voted to allow the council's assistant director of planning to grant permission once conditions had been met.

The store closed in January last year.

Ninety-eight of the flats would be built in the upper floors of the building and a two-storey extension.

The existing building's rear storage units would be demolished to allow space for the other 36 flats.

The development would include 105 car parking spaces and 246 cycle storage spaces.

A previous version of the plan was recommended for refusal in December but it has since been altered and scaled back.

A council report recommending the plan said: "The site is in a sustainable location and the development would bring a vacant building and underutilised site back to use, which would assist in vital physical and economic regeneration for Southsea town centre."

Councillors said National Regional Property Group would need to enter into a contract known as a section 106 agreement.

This requires the developer to secure provision for affordable housing within three months, as well as mitigate against any impact on the environment and recreation in the area.

The councillors said the authority's assistant director of planning and economic growth could still refuse the plans if the conditions were not met.