A NEW beach kiosk is set to open at Sandbanks beach this Easter as part of a major project to regenerate Poole’s seafront.

Approval was recently granted to convert an existing beach office within the beach station building in Shore Road, near Jazz Café, into a kiosk selling ice creams, drinks, and other hot and cold snacks.

It will be open seasonally from 9am to 7pm, seven days a week, weather permitting.

The new facility will form part of £500k plans to transform Shore Road and enhance public spaces and facilities in the area.

As reported in the Daily Echo recently, artist Amanda Moore has been commissioned to work with Simon Morgan, of Morgan Design Studio, to reinvigorate the promenade.

A planning application for beach huts and plaza improvements is due to be submitted this summer.

Poole planning officer Steve Llewellyn said while there were existing facilities in the vicinity of the new beach kiosk, the nearest other kiosks on the beach front were several hundred metres away.

He said it would “serve to enhance the refreshment offer that is available on this popular part of the beach where it is reasonable to expect that there would be some provision of this nature”.

However, residents of Chaddesley Wood Road objected to the plans over concerns about the loss of the beach office. They also questioned the profitability of the new kiosk, claiming similar facilities along the promenade were “very underutilised and unattractive”.

However, Mr Llewellyn said the kiosk would “complement the surrounding uses, would add to the vitality of the beach and positively contribute to the tourism offer in Poole”.

The beach ranger service will operate from a temporary beach office at Shore Road this year, prior to a permanent office opening in spring 2019.

The improvements to Shore Road, which also include plans for new beach huts, form part of a wider £6.6 million seafront regeneration programme, with £1.2 million additional funding from the Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) through the Dorset Coastal Connections portfolio.

Public spaces and facilities at Flaghead Chine, Branksome Chine, Canford Cliffs, and Hamworthy Park will also be improved as part of the scheme.