Sellar Property Group and Portsmouth Football Club have been forced to move the site of their proposed £600m waterfront stadium and housing scheme to land in the north west of the city.
The decision was revealed today by Portsmouth Football Club after the government announced plans to use the Royal Navy site in the city as a base for two aircraft carriers and destroyers.
The decision by the government led the football club to rethink its plans to redevelop The Hard due to ‘operational and security concerns’ as it is very close to the Navy site in the city.
Horsea Island
The new site, 30 acres of vacant land on Horsea Island near Port Solent, has been chosen as it will meet the need to be able to be completed by 2011.
The scheme will go ahead on the new site to be designed by Herzog & de Meuron to provide a 36,000 seater football stadium.
Disappointing
Peter Storrie, Portsmouth Football Club chief executive, said: ‘It’s disappointing for us that the stadium project at The Hard has not happened, but navy were very much in the forefront, with the council, of helping us to find this new waterfront site. They have been very, very supportive. This site gives us exactly what we want. Overall it has probably worked out a better site than The Hard.’
