SLIMMED down plans for Portland’s Pulpit Inn have been given the go ahead.

The revised scheme will include 11 holiday lets on the site and a revamped bar-restaurant once the existing, dated, building is demolished.

Some of those who objected to the original proposals for 14 holiday homes dropped their opposition after seeing the latest proposals, although not all.

The reduction has been achieved by doing away with three units planned for the upper floor of the new building – reducing its overall height to be roughly in line with the existing pub.

Developers, Koori Ltd, has also made other changes including to some facing materials, now to be locally sourced, as well as reducing the overall scale of the development and ‘tidying up’ the rear of the site.

Documents from the company suggest that the viability of the new business might still be borderline. It was also critical of Dorset Council for threatening enforcement action against the use of camper vans in the grounds during the main season.

It had been claimed that to demolish the mid-1950s building, originally known as the Devenish Arms, and re-build, based on the original proposals, would have cost in the region of £2.4 million, compared to £1.7 million for upgrading and extending the existing building.

Said Koori in a statement submitted with the revised planning application: “Any further reduction in accommodation would not only reduce the commercial case for the proposal but would verge on making the project unviable.”

Other changes, now agreed, include the reconfiguration of the public ground floor area to allow the western end of the open-plan bar and restaurant to be partitioned off to provide a private meeting space.

Dozens of objections had been submitted to Dorset Council over the first proposals, many claiming the first proposals were an overdevelopment of the site which would impact on the Heritage Coast.

Weymouth Civic Society is among those who continue to have concerns about the revised plans telling Dorset Council: “We acknowledge the improvement made by the removal of the three proposed flats on the second floor, allowing for the lowering of the roof. This has made the front elevation appear less bulky,” but is says its members continue to have concerns about the footprint of the building, claiming with the additional holiday accommodation parking problems could arise at busy times."

Portland Town Council says it would like consideration to now be given to creating a footpath from opposite the Portland Bird Observatory to the Pulpit Inn site which is says would make the area more accessible for those on foot and in wheelchairs, or with prams and buggies.

One of the conditions of the planning consent is that the maximum length of stay for the holiday lets should be 28 days and that the scheme will have to include enough space for more than 30 bicycles to be securely stored.

Dorset Council’s Senior Landscape Architect said that the revised scheme “responds positively to previously raised concerns over scale/massing/elevational treatments. The revised design could be successfully accommodated within this sensitive landscape and could provide visual enhancements to the existing visual baseline.”