The coastal path is now.... OPEN!

We are delighted to let you know that phase 4 of our sea defence work along Eastern Road was reopened to the public in September.

All engineering work is now completed, but further landscaping work with more seeding and tree planting will continue until later this year, bringing the total of new trees planted in the area to more than 200.

The Langstone Harbour Viewing car park near Tangier Road has been fully reinstated and can be used partially until all final landscaping work is complete.

Portsmouth City Council Leader, Cllr Steve Pitt said:

"The opening of the coastal path at Eastern Road comes just at the right time, as work on the final phase of the North Portsea Coastal Scheme at Ports Creek is starting.

The stretch along Eastern Road has been significantly enhanced by the project, both in terms of flood defences and beautification of the area for recreational use.

By spring 2025, when all the newly planted trees have started to establish and wildflowers are in full bloom, it will be a great spot for our community to walk along the coast and enjoy nature."

The path is open to people walking along the route, but people on cycles or rental e-scooters should use the shared path next to Eastern Road.

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...and so it begins!

Work on Phase 5 has started

When entering Portsmouth via the Portsbridge roundabout, you may have noticed the car park near Ports Creek and Foxes Forest is now closed.

Our contractor Knights Brown has been fencing off the area since the beginning of September in preparation for work starting soon.* This will be the fifth and final phase of the scheme, linking in with the completed work at Anchorage Park to the east and Tipner Lake to the west.

Construction site boundaries comprise of the area north of the Hilsea Lines moat. Visitors are still able to access the woodlands known as Foxes Forest on the southern side of the moat, via the footpath further south to the path along the creek and the entry points at Peronne Road.

The footbridge leading over the M27 from Peronne Road will be closed for a one-week period in October, to allow a temporary overpass for pedestrians to be constructed. This overpass will remain in place for the duration of the work, allowing site traffic to move east to west, whilst maintaining pedestrian access to the footbridge.

The footpath that runs through Portsbridge Car Park will be closed for the duration of the works and a temporary footpath diversion will be in place, with a short informal diversion to the footbridge opposite Portsbridge Car Park.

The footbridge adjacent to the railway line, further east along the creek, will be closed from November 2024 for a period of approximately 12 months (more information will be available when the detailed construction programme is finalised).

We are currently finalising exact diversion routes and maps for the above diversions which will be available through signage, on social media and the website as soon as possible. 

We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but hope you are looking forward to the many improvements planned for this area, which is set to be completed by the end of 2025.

watch an illustrated flyover of the planned design here

*please note there are a number of other projects happening in this area, including works by SGN and Portsmouth Water as well as the restoration work at Hilsea Lido.

For more information on the Hilsea Lido project, the fortnightly Hilsea Lines e-bulletin has the latest information on the project: 

 sign up here

Clearing the way

Vegetation clearance 

Our reptile relocation mission at Ports Creek was completed in August. In total we managed to safely capture and translocate 109 reptiles (103 slow worms and 6 common lizards) to the designated safe area within 97 capture days.

With the construction zone now free of reptiles, we are moving on to the next stage of vegetation clearance in preparation for the upcoming sea defence work.

Although we have reduced the footprint of the flood defence as much as possible, some shrubs and trees will have to be removed in order to raise the area for our defences along the creek. However, any trees removed from site clearance and construction works will be replaced with an equal or greater number of appropriate species, sizes and quality.

Where possible, we also try to reuse any material removed, eg. for brushwood faggots, which are bundles of brushwood, bound together that will be used to stabilise the sides of the Hilsea Lines moat. This will improve water quality of the moat whilst redefining the moat edge, an important historical feature.

We also plan to create log piles and use rotting wood to benefit protected species such as reptiles and stag beetles.

This next phase of vegetation clearance is set to start in the first week of October.

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