Southsea Sea Defences: 14 pictures of promenade and seafront ahead of closure

On October 21, 2024, the Southsea Coastal Scheme will start phase three of work which will see a huge portion of Southsea promenade close until summer 2026. The area between Blue Reef Aquarium and the hovercraft will be closed to the public and a temporary path is being created by the Coastal Partners team to the north of the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on the Common which will provide a route across the area after the promenade closes.

The work will include positioning the boulders and other materials to create the defences in the sea, as well as parking changes to the parking arrangements to create a better pedestrian route to the sea from Southsea Common. Clarence Esplanade will also be narrowed and become westbound-only, except for a segregated cycleway which can be used to travel in either direction and will mostly be separated from the road by parking spaces. The monuments on the Esplanade will also be repositioned and new seating put in place with the whole area matching the phase which opened this summer between the Pyramids the Blue Reef.

However features such as the ‘zig-zag’ promenade will be lost forever.

*Picture captions updated March 2026