by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter.
A new bird watching hide has been approved for the Wild Chesil Centre just off the Portland causeway road near Ferrybridge.
Councillors on the area planning committee, meeting in Dorchester on Monday, voted unanimously in favour of the new building.
It will sit to the side of the existing centre, on the bridge side, offering large windows to look out onto The Fleet.
Wyke councillor Kate Wheller proposed accepting the plans, saying it had been the intention to add a hide when the centre was first built.
Portland councillor Paul Kimber seconded the proposal telling the area planning committee: “It’s an excellent facility and when the application to build the centre came in was our first stab at diversifying away from defence. It’s excellent for visitors and locals.”
The scheme will involve moving the existing bin store to make was for the new hide with the new building having an access ramp for wheelchair users and children in prams and buggies.
The external walls will be finished in vertical timber cladding, while the shallow mono-pitch roof will be covered in a dark grey material.
Planning officers said that the development will make it easier for those less mobile to access the natural environment and support wider participation in recreational and educational activities.
They say the building will be sit with the established cluster of buildings associated with the visitor centre and will not look out of place.
