Objections from planning officers nearly sunk proposals for a RNLI lifeboat mural on a Weymouth harbourside building.

Although they claimed the large mural, to mark the 200th anniversary of the organisation was “overbearing” and the colours too bright, councillors voted 5-3 to allow it to go ahead, with one abstention.

The mural, which shows the town’s Ernest and Mabel lifeboat, is to go on the side of the listed Custom House Café, which was once the custom house and dates from the 1790s.

(Image: Dorset Council)

Planning officers said the put the mural on the building, as proposed, would cause ‘harm’ and would not enhance the Conservation Area.

They had suggested a smaller mural with toned-down paint colours.

Barry Stoneham, fundraising treasurer for the RNLI, told Dorset Council’s area planning committee that there had been widespread support for the mural when the plans were shown at fundraising events. He said the colours proposed were from the RNLI paint range and to tone them down made no sense.

The site is almost directly opposite the RNLI’s Weymouth Lifeboat Station, one of the busiest on the south coast.

Rodwell and Wyke Labour councillor Kate Wheller, proposing rejecting the officer recommendation and allowing the mural to go ahead told councillors: “ Yes it is large and impactful – but that’s the whole point.”

She argued that the picture would not detract from the listed building or the conservation area and said any ‘harm’ there was would be outweighed by the public good in raising the profile of an organisation which, for 200 years, had saved countless life at sea.

She and other councillors supported adding an interpretation board to the building, in addition to the mural, to explain the RNLI’s history, the organisation having been in Weymouth since 1869.

Both Weymouth Town Council and Mayor, Jon Orrell, had supported the mural, along with others – but there had been a few detractors who wrote to the council to say the mural would be out of place.

Said one objector, from Greenhill: “The overall scheme is too large and garish. It’s presence would be overwhelming. The area is a conservation area and should be respected.

"A more muted scheme might be more appropriate to celebrate the RNLI."

Cllr Louise Bown (Lib Dem, Radipole) describing herself as “a proud Weymouthian” said she was proud of the heritage of the RNLI in the town and the mural would celebrate that; a view supported by Portland Labour councillor Paul Kimber, who argued the mural would not detract from the area, as claimed by planning officer, but would enhance what was now a vibrant area – which already had other murals on buildings.