BULBURY Golf Course at Lytchett Minister has been granted consent for a driving range building with three-metre safety netting.

It will be built to the east of the club house and adjacent to the road which leads to Holly Hedge Farm, using part of the existing course.

More than 40 trees, mainly conifers, will be lost through the development, although other trees will be planted in compensation, including species which are more beneficial to wildlife.

The 48-metre long range building will be timber clad, single storey with a open frontage to the north, divided into 12 bays and with a dedicated teaching bay and video room at the eastern end, together with a golf ball washing facility at the opposite end.

Lighting for the site will only be operational between October and March, no earlier than 7am and no later than 7pm, which the club says will greatly reduce the impact on foraging and commuting bats in the area.

The club will also put up bat boxes on nearby woodland to provide additional roosting for the bats.

In its application for the building and range the club says: "The range allows for the improved provision of the sporting and social facilities in this rural location. Provision of modern, well equipped, and accessible to all, the golf driving range helps make the club's offer to both members and visitors attractive, which in turn ensures the retention and provision of employment in this rural location.

"Such facilities are few and between and support the rural economy particularly in the 'out of season' times of the year where visitors are looking for facilities that can be accessed and enjoyed in inclement weather."

The 18-hole course has been in existence since the late 1980s with more recent planning consents including an extension to the clubhouse and additional parking with security lighting.