PLANS to rebuild the zig zag path at Highcliffe Castle which has been closed for more than a year after partially-collapsing have been approved.

Members of Christchurch council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead for the work, which has a budget of almost £900,000, at Thursday’s meeting.

The “momentous” decision comes a year after the council had shelved its plans to reconstruct the path over the project’s cost.

A resident-led campaign forced a U-turn and in February £884,500 was budgeted by the council to fund the work.

The zig zag path at Highcliffe Castle was shut in March 2017 due to fears that it could collapse “at any time”.

In August the council made the “difficult decision not to proceed” with its reconstruction over the expected £1.25m cost.

But a petition set-up by Rothesay Drive Residents Association and Friends of Highcliffe Beaches and Cliffs, which was signed 3,000 times prompted the council to reconsider its decision a month later.

Ahead of setting this year’s budget, the council allocated funds for the project but permission for the works was not given until Thursday’s planning committee meeting.

Cllr Clare Bath, deputy chairman of the zig zag path task and finish group, said: “This is a very momentous point in time for an awful lot of work from an awful lot of people.

“It is a very serious piece of engineering work but the amount of time and effort and professional advice will produce, I’m sure, a very successful result.

“When this path closed, the uproar from local people was enormous and luckily we were able to turn that around and we are approaching a point where the much-loved path will be opened again.”

The plans approved by the committee will see some minor changes made to the path’s route and timber retaining walls with concrete ‘king post piled’ structures.

Cllrs John Lofts and Peter Hall urged the council to “keep an eye” on the construction process to ensure that it is carried out correctly.

Work is expected to begin this autumn with councillors saying they hoped it would be completed before May’s elections.