PLANS have been submitted for nearly 100 new beach huts, which are set to be built in Poole next year as part of the council’s £5.4m seafront improvement scheme.

Five planning applications for new seafront facilities and beach huts at Canford Cliffs, Branksome Dene Chine, and Flaghead Chine have been made by Borough of Poole’s culture and community learning unit.

Concerns over the cliff stability at Canford Cliffs forced the council to rethink its original scheme of building 178 new huts at a cost of £3.62million.

Last month, revised plans for 145 new huts were proposed, as well as the rebuilding of 147 huts - allowing the council access to the cliffs for repair work - and the refurbishment of 28 huts across the borough’s beaches

But these have been revised again, to 89 beach huts at Canford Cliffs, four at Branksome Dene Chine, and four at Flaghead Chine. Only 102 dated concrete huts are proposed for rebuilding and a further 22 huts refurbished, alongside improvements to catering and toilet facilities. Five different new hut sizes and types are proposed to offer the public a wider choice.

The council says it does still anticipate submitting further applications next year for the remaining planned huts, "subject to ongoing feasibility work".

A spokesperson added: "The precise elements that will make up the completed scheme are still being determined as various environmental, financial, and market influences will affect the final design and phasing of the beach huts."

The scheme includes the demolition of existing beach huts at Canford Cliffs to allow the council to address some of the structural concerns and carry out cliff repair work.

A landslip at Bournemouth’s East Cliff in April prompted Borough of Poole to carry out its own assessment of seafront cliffs.

A report to cabinet revealed that the assessment at Canford Cliffs “did identify some areas showing visual signs of weathering or movement which will continue to be monitored”.

The investigation also found the retaining wall behind the huts had "bowed and cracked in some areas”.

The ground underneath had also "suffered serious erosion over the years, creating underground voids which compromise the integrity of the foundations".

Kevin McErlane, head of culture and community learning at the borough, said: “Enabling the development of new seafront facilities and beach huts in Poole will bring investment in the seafront infrastructure, meet some of the strong public demand for huts and provide much needed additional income to support wider council services. Subject to planning permission, we aim to start construction in September 2017 with the works taking up to 9 months to complete.”