BBC Natural History teams have been given planning consent for a filming base at Arne for their Springwatch series.

Three portable buildings will be used, for the duration of the series, at Arne Farm near Wareham in a location out of the public view. Until now the BBC staff, and its on-screen stars, have been using marquees.

RSPB Arne recently hosted the BBC's Winterwatch series which was presented by the Springwatch team Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams.

The show also saw filming take place in Bridport and at Radipole Lake in Weymouth, and presenter Packham was also issued a body guard after the show received "specific threats" aimed at him.

The BBC Natural History Unit, based in Bristol,  say they expect the 20x8 feetcabins to remain in use until mid-June when filming will be completed, and the structures will be removed.

They will be sharing the farmyard space with the farmer, who lives there, and a pig pen.
The cabins will be used for both storage, office space and crew shelter.

Part of the BBC planning application included a biodiversity report which concluded that because the temporary base is outside the designated special protection areas, the nearest being 300 metres away, it was not likely to have a significant effect.

The report said that adjacent farm buildings support a pair of breeding barn owls and a pair of breeding kestrels, both of which are also unlikely to be impacted as they are used to human activity from the farm, RSPB staff and visitors to the reserve.

Neither Arne Parish Council nor the Dorset National Landscape team (previously Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) raised an objection.

A Dorset Council planning case officer said: “The portacabins represent small-scale outbuildings within the curtilage of existing buildings.

"They would not have a significant adverse visual or ecological impact on the environment or have an adverse traffic movement impact.”

One of the planning conditions is that the portacabins will have to be removed by June 30th 2024.

RSPB Arne is a 635 hectare site of mixed heathland, woodland, wetland and pasture attracting around 75,000 visitors a year, made more popular by the TV series which has shown its wide range of bird and mammals to national television audiences.