PLANS for a public shelter will now be incorporated into official proposals for the redevelopment of Canford Cliffs pavilion, BCP Council says.

Members of Poole Lifeguard Open Water Swimmers (PLOWS) were dismayed when they learned the planned redevelopment of the beachfront pavilion into a cafe could spell the loss of the sheltered area.

This area, they said, was important for open water swimmers as it provided them a safe, dry place to store their belongings and a shelter to change in.

So they launched a campaign calling for BCP Council – which is set to redevelop the site as part of a wider £7.3 million seafront scheme – to save the sheltered area.

Now, after the Daily Echo featured the story and PLOWS met with council officials, the local authority has agreed to incorporate the shelter design.

Councillor Mohan Iyengar, portfolio holder for leisure, said: "We’re grateful for the feedback from the Poole Lifeguard Open Water Swimmers.

"As a result the wish for sheltering for swimmers will be brought into the design-on-paper.

"An adjusted proposal will then be put back into the planning process – for approval hopefully in 2021."

Meanwhile, Anna Harris, of PLOWS, told the Echo the meeting their members had with council officials in October was a constuctive one.

Anna said: "They tell us that they are now working with an architect to include a shelter in the design of the redevelopment, which is fantastic news.

"Just as well, as the pavilion appears to be growing in popularity with swimmers.

"Our own group has grown and each weekend there seem to be other, new groups of people swimming at Canford Cliffs.

"The shelter is definitely needed."

Since the various lockdowns and Covid restrictions were introduced, open water swimming has grown in popularity.

Indeed, last week the UK Coastguard issued renewed guidelines for cold water swimming after it recorded a sharp increase in calls to swimming related incidents across the nation.

On these national incidents, a coastguard spokesman said: "There has been a significant increase in people enjoying open-water swimming and cold-water dipping.

"There’s also been an increase of nearly 80 per cent in calls for HM Coastguard’s help for swimming-related incidents – up from 436 between January and November 2019 to 784 for the same period in 2020."