URGENT: THE PORTSMOUTH RECORDS OFFICE IS UNDER THREAT AGAIN — WE NEED YOUR HELP

To the 1,947 people who have already stood with us: thank you. Your support has helped keep the former Portsmouth City Records Office standing through years of uncertainty.

But the threat has returned.

Portsmouth City Council is now considering a £15.45 million redevelopment proposal that would demolish the former Records Office and replace it with a 44-home sheltered-housing scheme beside Portsmouth Museum, in one of the city’s most historic areas.

The Council’s Cabinet is due to consider the proposal on 27 October.

This is not simply a debate about one building. It is about whether a historic public asset can be left vacant for years, allowed to deteriorate, and then declared too costly to save.

The building has stood empty since 2011. Now the Council cites its condition as a reason for demolition. We say long-term neglect must not become the excuse for erasing Portsmouth’s heritage.

The recent engagement exercise reportedly received only 57 responses. That is nowhere near a mandate to remove a significant historic building when nearly 2,000 people have already signed this petition to save it.

We are asking every supporter to act now:

• Share this update with friends, family, neighbours and Portsmouth history groups.

• Ask your councillors to oppose demolition until all genuine restoration and reuse options have been transparently assessed.

• Demand full disclosure of the alternatives considered, the costings, the engagement process and why the building has been allowed to deteriorate.

• Donate if you can so we can keep campaigning, researching and making the case for a viable future for the Records Office.

We are not against homes. We are against allowing a historic building to be neglected into demolition without a fair, transparent and properly scrutinised fight for its future.

Please stand with us again. Share this petition. Make your voice heard. We cannot let Portsmouth lose another irreplaceable part of its history.

Save the Portsmouth City Records Office.