Exclusive:'It is relatively unimportant': Portsmouth chairman Michael Eisner admits Fratton footbridge doubts
The feasibility study into a new Fratton Station bridge is ongoing - having been launched in 2024
Michael Eisner has claimed the construction of a new Fratton footbridge is ‘relatively unimportant’.
And Pompey’s chairman is unsure whether the long-running wrangle will ever be resolved in his lifetime.
A new footbridge from Fratton Station is essential to unlocking development plans for the Pompey Centre area, including Fratton Park and a new North Stand.
Portsmouth City Council’s pre-submission Local Plan from July 2024 emphasises the necessity to upgrade public transport linking the area, including the train network, overseen by the Government-run Network Rail.
The process is ongoing, but Eisner has now distanced himself from the significance of the footbridge - and insisted he would rather spend money on buying players for Pompey.
‘We would rather spend on the players than on the bridge’
Eisner told The News: ‘I don’t understand the obsession with the bridge.
‘Let me just tell you about the bridge. So I am with Bob Stern, the late American architect who recognised Archibald Leitch, and we decided to take the train to Fratton. I wanted him to see exactly what it was like to go from London to here and do that walk.
‘He almost got hit by a car on Goldsmith Avenue, I came back and said to Mark (Catlin) this is dangerous, so let’s shorten the walk, go through the real estate - which I then learnt we don’t own - and make a beautiful walk. You can have all those things around the walk.
‘That started the process. It was a process of safety, you didn’t have all these people walking on that little path.
‘Then you get into the issue of who designs it, how much is it going to cost, where is it going, what is the government’s obligation, what is the railroad’s obligation, how you can put together a group of allies, which Andrew has done.
‘It is relatively unimportant, we would rather spend on the players than on the bridge. Yes I would like to have the bridge, I would like to have the North Stand, I would like all of these.
‘We must do the things which address our business. The bridge would be great to have, I hope it’s in my lifetime, I don’t know.’
‘The feasibility study is incomplete, but is drawing to a conclusion’
Since work on the feasibility study began, ownership of the Pompey Centre has switched from M7 Real Estate to Redevco, yet the bridge’s construction continues to be viewed as crucial.
Pompey chief executive Andy Cullen sits on the feasibility board, which also contains representatives from Redevco and Portsmouth City Council, operating as a joint-venture between stakeholders.
And, according to Cullen, the feasibility study is ‘drawing to a conclusion’.
Andy Cullen said: ‘The feasibility study is incomplete, but is drawing to a conclusion. Then the question is how it’s going to be funded and by who.
‘The feasibility board - which embraces a number of partners - have received a number of options for a bridge, with the first part of that study coming up with costings for various routes.
‘The feasibility board then asked Network Rail to re-engineer and look at how those costs could be improved because they were exceptionally high and of such a magnitude which were going to be difficult.
‘The other angle we have to be mindful of is should we get to the stage where we have the final costs and an option which is viable, the second part of the project - and this is outside the scope of the feasibility study - is the walkway.
‘How does the route get from the bridge landing point and how does that connect to the whole development, including the Pompey Centre and Portsmouth Football Club.
‘That is a separate piece of work required and it’s about how that works with the different developments which are being planned.’