The first stage of the Betteshanger Sustainable Parks development has been granted permission by the district council.

The planning application for Fowlmead Country Park includes a visitor centre, re-siting and upgrading the children’s play area, erection of a camera obscura structure and alterations to internal access road and parking.

This will also see the current visitor centre at the site near Deal removed.

Before the development can take place there will need to be a Construction Method Statement submitted to explain how the development will meet all the requirements, including controlling dust and dirt, noise, arrangement for storage of plants, impact on current Fowlmead users, and an ecological management plan.

The permission, granted by the district council, is conditional on these factors being met.

The proposed visitor centre will include a main reception, a restaurant and cafe, conference area, cycle hire and biomass energy centre which is hoped will power the park.

The camera obscura structure will use an optical technique by making a small hole in the wall of a darkened room an image of the scene outside the hole can be produced on the inside of the room.

The £110 million scheme is set to transform the former colliery site into a green technologies site, research and education centre, eco-visitor centre and a mining heritage museum.

For more information visit www.dover.gov.uk/planning and search for reference number DOV/14/00262.