Anger at plan for restaurant near £300k beach huts
THE owners of beach huts on an exclusive seaside peninsula are fighting plans for a two-storey restaurant which they say will overshadow their ‘piece of paradise’.
The huts on Mudeford Sandbank – which is not accessible by car – sell for up to £300,000. They can sleep up to eight but local rules mean overnight stays are only permitted between March and October.
Owners of the 360 huts in Dorset have clashed with the council over plans to rebuild the Beach House cafe on Mudeford Spit which burned down two years ago. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council plans to spend £1million on creating a ‘signature’ building. But hut owners say it will dominate the landscape and attract more tourists to the exclusive spot. A planning application has received more than 200 letters of objection. Steve Barratt, of the Mudeford Sandbank Beach Hut Association, said: ‘The proposal is a betrayal of the trust placed in the council. It will have a negative effect on hut owners and result in a building that would dominate the landscape for miles and destroy the openness of the site in an environmentally sensitive area.’
Council leader Vikki Slade said: ‘Proposals are for a modern, airy design, in-keeping with this beautiful and unique beach location. We also want to prioritise affordable, innovative, sustainable technologies and practices.’ Kim Slater, who has run the Beach House for 16 years, said: ‘Everything seems to be going round in circles and nobody seems to know what’s next. We just want to get open and trading.’