DORSET Council says it will be visiting the former Portland naval building in the coming days after reports of children continuing to play on the partially-demolished structure.

The council says it last took action in late 2020 with a visit by Dorset Council building control and environmental health officers following reports of unauthorised access to this building.

Said a Dorset Council statement: “The owner/developers subsequently took steps to ensure the site was re-secured shortly after.

“With the site secure, the building itself was not considered a danger to the public at that time and we had not received any further official complaints or notifications since. However, given recent reports, we have contacted the developers’ office directly to advise of the recent problems with unauthorised access and understand they are attending and re-securing the site. We have arranged another joint follow-up visit for next week to check and advise on their security provisions…It remains their responsibility to secure these safely and prevent unauthorised access.”

In December 2020 Dorset Council was asked by island councillor Paul Kimber what action it could take to clear the site, or buy it, using compulsory purchase powers.

The council’s planning brief holder Cllr David Walsh told him at the time that there was little the authority could reasonably do, without taking a massive financial risk.

He said the building, also known as Prince Andrew House, had planning consent for 554 residential units, involving a mix of new-build and by converting the block into 157 homes and creating others homes on the site.

“However, this is a difficult and expensive site to develop and viability has proved to be a key stumbling block, in spite of a previous award of money through the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund.  Unfortunately, this was still not sufficient to make the scheme viable and so the money could not be drawn down. In the absence of a substantial capital injection, completion of the scheme is therefore likely require a significant change in market conditions,” he said.

He said that for the council to use compulsory purchase it would requires ministerial approval which was only likely to be given where there is a compelling case in the public interest.