Plans for a new Visitor Centre at the Nailstone Colliery site in Ellistown have been given the go-ahead.

The scheme also includes associated upgrades to the existing bridleway to provide access to the site, along with parking and landscaping at the Wood Road venue.

But the building also has two classroom spaces as well as a space for groups to meet.

North West Leicestershire District Council has granted planning permission for the building which will be sited on the western edge of the proposed Interlink South Country Park, close to where Aldi is to create a new hub with 1.3 million sq ft of warehousing around 140 lorry bays.

The building designers put a case for the new centre as part of their planning application.

This brief design and access statement has been prepared in support of the construction of the proposed visitor centre and the improvement of the existing access to it.

It says: "The location within the Country Park has been driven by a wish to be central to the whole park and to be in a secure location.

"The proposed facility will provide two internal classroom spaces and an external covered group area.

"The site will also provide for some informal parking in an area to the east of the proposed building, for those visitors requiring immediate access and deliveries.

"The building will act as a resource for the Park and its visitors for educational uses, as well as a base for Park staff and management.

"Pedestrian access will be via the established network of footpaths within the Park.

"Most visitors will be expected to park in the existing car park on the northern Country Park (a seven-minute walk) but for disabled, minibus and delivery access the existing link between the site and the northern car park will be improved.

"It would be well sited and secure with appropriate facilities and would be of a design in keeping with the Country Park setting.

"The proposed building needed to sit well within the woodland context and would need to provide some flexibility of use and provision of suitable amenity for Park visitors.

"The remote setting called for a structure that would also be robust and capable of being secured when not in use."

A council officer's report adds: "The application site was part of a cross-boundary scheme within both the District of North West Leicestershire and the Borough of Hinckley and Bosworth granted in 2008 by the Secretary of State.

"It is considered that it would represent a suitable form of development in terms of its visual impact and materials of construction in the wooded location where it is proposed to be sited.

"Whilst the National Forest Company has suggested that it would encourage inclusion of additional sustainable construction features, it is considered that it would not be reasonable to require an additionally enhanced form of environmental construction in the context of the scope of this planning application."