Kwik Save Portsmouth: Concerns continue over future of derelict supermarket site

In March last year, Portsmouth City Council reportedly considered using a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to acquire and redevelop the site, which has been abandoned for over a decade and has become a hotspot for fly-tipping.

A council spokesperson confirmed that the property remains under private ownership and that no planning applications or CPOs have been initiated.

Local Nelson ward councillor Lee Hunt stated that the council has been in contact with the Southampton-based landowner “because obviously we’re concerned about the site being vacant and derelict”.

He added: “We have tried all these avenues but the guy is not willing to budge, I was told by a local developer that he was offered £1m for it but he’s not interested. We’re doing everything we can but it is very difficult.

“It’s down to the owner to keep his land clean, we have intervened on a couple of occasions to tidy it up.

“At the end of the day, we don’t live in a country where the state can grab your private property and do what they want with it.”

Councillor Hunt further noted that CPOs are often costly and “not all that successful”.

“Developing the land is going to be very expensive, it’s got issues with it, not least contaminated land underneath. Even if the council bought it, we wouldn’t be able to get a return on the taxpayer money.

“You should be doing a CPO as part of a wider regeneration scheme, for example, we did it in and around the town centre.

“What we need to happen with these sites is a change of the law so councils can buy this land at a fair price – until we can do that, it’s going to be very difficult.”

The building has been owned by Southampton-based Denzil Properties since purchasing the supermarket site for £730,000 in late 2002.