COUNCILLORS will be asked to agree £15,000 of additional funding to complete work at the Chesil Beach Centre.

The building and external works to revamp the Portland visitor centre were completed in time for the Olympic and Paralympic Games last summer and the final internal fit-out is expected to be completed by the end of March.

However, the withdrawal of key funders left Dorset County Council with a £30,000 short fall in footing the bill for the £1.1million project.

A report going before the council’s cabinet next week claims that half the money has now been found from other partners but the authority will be asked to make a contribution of the remaining £15,000.

The report states that funding for the project was provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund and other organisations such as the Fine Family Foundation and the Crown Estate.

However funding was hit with the demise of the South West Regional Development Agency, which had committed £250,000 to the scheme, and a further £50,000 promised by the Portland Gas Trust that the report states has ‘not been forthcoming’ due to economic conditions.

The report states: “Whilst the project team has worked hard to recoup this, the £1.1m project is still £30,000 short of its total cost prior to completion in March.

“Half of this has been found from other partners, and there is now a request as to whether Dorset County Council is able to make a contribution of the remaining £15,000.”

On completion the building will be run as a partnership between the Dorset Wildlife Trust and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.