PLANS to ‘enhance the dining and drinking experience’ at a Wetherspoon pub have been given the green light.

BCP Council planning officers have approved the plans for new bi-fold doors out to the beer garden at The Blackwater Stream pub in Lower Blandford Road in Broadstone.

A case officer’s report said: “Due to the quality of the design, the materials and layout the scheme would give rise to an improvement in the appearance, setting and vitality of the pub, which would inevitably have a benefit to the local centre.”

K D Paine Associates Ltd on behalf of J D Wetherspoon said in a design and access statement submitted to the council that the plan ‘creates stronger visual connectivity with the garden and also improves the natural light within the pub’.

This, it said, would ‘improve the dining experience of customers in the existing pub by creating a more opened up experience’.

(Image: K D Paine Associates Ltd/J D Wetherspoon)

The officer's report concluded: “The proposal would retain the character and appearance of the adjacent Conservation Area, street scene and the wider surrounding area.

“Neighbouring living conditions would be preserved.

“There would be no impact on protected trees on site subject to condition.

“The proposal would not have an adverse impact on biodiversity and ecology.”

The planning statement submitted with the application said: “The proposal by JD Wetherspoon public house to create new bi-fold doors to the existing pub in these premises satisfies this aim, in that it provides for more interest to the buildings façade and also encourages and welcomes customers into the public house by creating a more visually prominent access into the pub.

“Moreover, it also amplifies the experience of existing customers in the pub by creating a sense of transparency and connectivity with the beer garden and thus the outdoors, which enhances their dining/drinking experience.”

The Blackwater Stream is one of six Wetherspoon pubs across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

The pub chain known for its cheap pints has recently put its pub The Quay in Poole on the market for £1.75million. The pub will close when it has been sold.

Earlier in June, the opening date for a new Aroma Café in the former Wetherspoon pub Nightjar in Victoria Road, Ferndown, was confirmed as July 1.