Former Hythe police station on Jones Lane back up for sale after flats plan by McCarthy Stone fails

A former police station is back on the market for £2m following failed plans to build retirement flats on the site.

As reported in the A&T, developer McCarthy Stone has had two unpopular sets of proposals to develop Hythe police station refused since the facility closed down in 2017.

The first bid for 35 flats and parking provision for over 30 cars was likened to a prison by NFDC members, who subsequently turned it down. An appeal by the developer was later lost after a public hearing.

A scaled-down 33-home plan was then submitted, but it was dismissed after then chief planning officer Claire Upton-Brown ruled it was “of poor design quality which would be disproportionately large and out of scale with other buildings in the locality”.

The Jones Lane site has now been put up for sale by Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones.

The 1.34-acre site, which includes the derelict 11,621-sq ft station building, is being marketed by Lambert Smith Hampton and Vail Williams.

The brochure states: “The site is situated to the west of the town centre and is within a surburban area characterised by semi-detached houses and a limited number of low-rise apartment blocks.

"To the north of the site is the marina village and to the west is public open space."

County councillor for Hythe and Dibden, Cllr Malcolm Wade, said he would “ideally” like the site to still be home to a working police station.

He told the A&T: “As a public building on a site owned by a public organisation, combined with the old skate park site owned by HCC, they should both go to public need and that is for affordable and social housing, for local people.

“The cost of housing is hard to reach for many young families in our area. This is an ideal site close to the shops and the Hythe transport hub, with public transport into Southampton and all the local facilities.

“It should be bought by New Forest District Council for housing, and I and other local councillors have been asking for that; but it seems the police estate department are driven by profit rather than public need. I would like to see that changed and an appropriate housing scheme on that site.”

Objections to the previous retirement flats scheme included residents, Hythe and Dibden Parish Council, and the Jones Lane and Dibden Lodge Close Residents Association.

Among the issues raised were concerns there were already a “large number” of retirement flats in the village, the lack of starter homes for young people, inadequate parking, and the height of the building.

Chair of Hythe and Dibden Parish Council, Cllr Vicky Joynes, said “disappointment” was still felt over both the closure of the police station and its sale.

She told the A&T: “No one wants to see any more retirement flats in the area. This parish maintains that the site should either reopen as a police station – as others in Hampshire have – or be transferred to NFDC, for desperately needed social housing for young local families.

“The adjacent skate park was another loss to Hythe and Dibden residents and both sites are now an eyesore. Our council is also deeply disappointed that Hampshire County Council decided to add that to the site to be sold.”

A spokesperson for PCC Donna Jones told the A&T the police station had been on the market “for some time”. They added: “The building is being sold jointly with Hampshire County Council, as it owns the adjoining land.”

A Hampshire County Council spokesperson confirmed the site had gone on the market, with offers over £2m to be considered.