Plans to provide an extra classroom at Chestnut Woodlands Forest School in Moira have been given the go-ahead by North West Leicestershire District Council.

Located on land at Sweethill Oak Cottage off Ashby Road, the wider site is also known as Chestnut Farm.

The building will provide additional space to support the existing forest school building.

The site is situated on the edge of a 100 acre woodland in the heart of the National Forest. There is an existing building on site which is already used for groups accessing the Forest School sessions.

The applicants say that Forest Schools offer an educational experience that gives children the opportunity to succeed and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland environment.

The school mainly operates by receiving groups of children from primary schools.

Therefore the children usually arrive as a class rather than being dropped off individually.

The existing building can accommodate a class of approximately 30 children and the new building could hold another 30.

The applicants say that the new building is required due to the increasing popularity of the forest school.

The application submission mentions social-distancing requirements which currently restrict the

'per day' capacity of the each building to be 15.

The proposed building would help for complying with social distancing but also, as restrictions ease, it would allow for separate classes to use different buildings independently and provide larger indoor work space to meet the increase in demand.

A District Council officer's report says: "It is considered that the proposal would represent small scale sustainable development within a rural area and would be acceptable in principle.

"The scheme would not have any adverse impacts upon design, the character of the area, the occupiers of neighbouring dwellings, the River Mease SAC, land contamination, coal mining risk or highway safety. There are no other material impacts identified, that would indicate that the proposal is not in accordance with the adopted Local Plan.

"Accordingly the application is recommended for planning permission."