Currently the council is remaining tight-lipped about the Sainsbury s bid due to commercial sensitivity.
However, council leader, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said: There s an area currently covered by a plan and the logic is if this land (the Sainsbury s site) comes into the council s ownership we would look to make it part of a wider scheme across the city centre.
And a council spokesman said: As part of the emerging new local plan for Portsmouth, the council is reviewing the opportunities for new development and regeneration in the city centre in a new masterplan and delivery strategy.
An image of plans for the Northern Quarter scheme from 2017 that were since scrapped. Picture released February 2017
‘We would like to know what additional support there will be for businesses forced to close on the busiest week of their year. Shops, restaurants and bars will all have banked on a bumper week to get them through the lean months of January and February.
‘The Kings Theatre in Southsea was brave enough to put on a pantomime, but this has now been cancelled. What support can you offer these businesses to stop then going bust?
‘People in Portsmouth will obey the new restrictions to make sure that they are able to keep the virus at bay, but people need to know that the government is in control of the situation, and it appears that you are not. We can no longer cope with this level of chaos in government.