PLANNING officers at Somerset Council have been left with egg on their faces after mistakenly giving approval to one of their own councillors to expand a seafront amusement arcade in Minehead.

The Arkade, in Warren Road, is operated by Liberal Democrat Cllr Marcus Kravis, whose partner Cara Strom is also a Somerset councillor.

Cllr Kravis applied to his own council last March to expand the business by demolishing a redundant public toilet block attached to his building.

Planning officer Gemma Webster then approved the plans in November using delegated powers despite a transparency requirement that applications by sitting councillors should be decided in public by a relevant committee.

Now, Cllr Kravis has been asked to resubmit his plans to avoid any potential legal challenge being made against the authority.

Somerset councillors who sit on the authority’s planning committee will consider the re-application early in the New Year after a fresh round of public consultation.

Cllrs Kravis and Strom have previously been embroiled in planning controversy with applications in recent years for their Anchor’s Drop former public house accommodation in Blue Anchor.

The Arkade decision was due to be revisited by councillors in December, but was withdrawn from the agenda before the meeting.

Ms Webster said: “Due to an unfortunate oversight, planning permission was granted for the development proposed under delegated powers, contrary to the provisions of the council’s constitution.

“The decision, having not been made in accordance with the correct procedures is, therefore, open to legal challenge.”

Ms Webster said the error had been pointed out by Cllr Kravis himself, and neither he nor his planning agent were responsible for the ‘regrettable’ mistake.

She said the council could pursue a judicial review to quash the approval, but it would ‘incur considerable costs and would take a significant length of time’ which could impact the viability of the proposed development.