Mudeford Spit beach cafe set for 'like-for-like' rebuild after fire

The Beach House cafe was demolished after it was wrecked by fire in November 2018

Plans to build a "like-for-like" replacement of a beach cafe that was destroyed by fire have been submitted.

Beach House Cafe at Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, was demolished after a blaze in November 2018.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council had initially proposed a larger building which led to opposition from beach hut owners.

The authority said the revised plans would preserve quality of life for hut owners and not increase tourism.

Cabinet members approved a £1m "more up-to-date" facility on the sandbank last year.

But it drew a significant backlash from the owners of nearby beach huts, which sell for up to £300,000, who accused the council of a "betrayal of trust".

Beach huts at Mudeford Spit change hands for as much as £300,000

About half of the 2,000 responses submitted to the proposals said they would have a negative impact on the area and the council withdrew the plans in December, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The only changes put forward in the new application were to raise the height of the building to "mitigate flooding concerns" and to meet building insulation regulations.

Council architects PAD Studio said the changes compared to the original cafe were "modest" and that there would be "no perceivable increase in scale".

"This is a sustainable development delivering a like-for-like replacement building which will blend in with the overall form and layout of the surroundings and the coastal landscape of Mudeford Sandbank," it added.

The council had originally hoped the new cafe would open in May but scrapping the original project had led to a delay, it said.