New shipyard in Portsmouth planned

Foreland Marine, the parent company of Watermans, has proposed a superyacht refit yard at Tipner West, on the north-west shore of Portsea Island.

Foreland Marine, the parent company of Watermans, has put forward a proposal for a superyacht refit yard at Tipner West, the former Ministry of Defence peninsula on the north-west shore of Portsea Island. The site is allocated under Policy PLP3 of the Portsmouth Local Plan Addendum, which sets aside 25,000 square metres of employment floorspace, including marine uses, alongside about 1,000 homes. The Local Plan was submitted for examination on 18 March 2026, and hearing dates have not yet been announced.

The proposal is for a working yard with a 500 tonne mobile hoist and a lift dock, floating berths and hard standing for yachts of up to 70 metres, with covered workshops for joinery, mechanical and electrical trades. It is privately funded, and no public subsidy is sought for the facility itself. At full operation around 150 people would be on site: 18 permanent yard roles, with specialist contractors making up the remainder as the order book requires, and an apprenticeship programme modelled on the one at Pendennis in Falmouth.

Refit capacity in the central Solent is limited, and in Foreland's experience yachts based there often go to Falmouth or across the Channel to haul out. The nearest comparable lift inside Portsmouth Harbour, Trafalgar Shipyard's syncrolift in Portchester Lake, takes yachts to 60 metres and 877 tonnes.

The site includes a group of Grade II listed Georgian ordnance buildings at Tipner Point: the north and south powder magazines, the Shifting House and a section of the boundary wall. Policy PLP3 requires them to be retained, restored and reused, and the proposal would bring them back into use as part of the working yard.

The allocation is still at examination, the Council has not chosen a development partner, and the proposal has no planning consent. What follows depends on the Inspectors' findings and on the Council's approach to delivering the site.