PLANS for a £250,000 revamp of Wiveliscombe’s outdoor swimming pool have run into heritage objections.

Wivey Pool committee volunteers want to build a new pool house to provide a warm area for swimmers and spectators, and to be used as a lifesaving skills training centre.

But, Somerset Council conservation officer Kerry Kerr-Peterson has objected to the committee’s planning application.

Ms Kerr-Peterson said the pool was in Wiveliscombe’s conservation area and next to the war memorial recreation ground, which was a non-designated heritage asset.

A grade two listed war memorial and drinking fountain and a locally listed sports pavilion were also nearby.

Ms Kerr-Peterson said: “These assets have a high degree of communal and illustrative and associative historic value.

“Their setting, as key community facilities and memorial ground for the town of Wiveliscombe makes a high contribution to their significance.”

Ms Kerr-Peterson said Wivey Pool’s planning application failed to give an assessment of any harm that the proposed development might cause to the heritage assets.

She said: “The principle of the erection of a pavilion and accessible facilities for the pool users is acceptable.

“However, given the sensitive heritage position of the application site, the form, materials, and quality of the proposed new building would not sustain or enhance the setting of the heritage assets in the vicinity or sustain or enhance the character or distinctiveness of the conservation area.

“A heritage impact assessment is required to present the significance of the heritage assets affected, the potential impacts upon that significance, and to demonstrate mitigation measures have been considered to minimise any adverse impacts.”

Ms Kerr-Peterson said Wivey Pool needed to reconsider the form, materials and quality of the new building using contextual analysis to understand the context in which the building would be situated and how it could sustain or enhance the setting.

She said: “As it stands, this application is recommended for refusal on heritage grounds, partly due to lack of information about the impacts of the proposals.

“But, also due to the adverse impacts upon the setting of the heritage assets, including the impact upon the character and distinctiveness of the Wiveliscombe Conservation Area.”

The open air heated swimming pool opens from Easter to September each year and is entirely run by local volunteers.

It is one of the oldest swimming pools in Somerset, having been first opened in August, 1927.

The committee is currently trying to raise an initial £60,000 which would be used to kick-start its modernisation plans.

The volunteers wants to demolish a range of old sheds to create a site on which to build a new two-storey pavilion as a warm area for people and as a centre for learning.

The new building is also planned to incorporate a viewing veranda and accessibility features, including a disabled toilet, in an effort to make all pool users feel comfortable and included.

The pool’s toilets would also be open to anybody using the war memorial recreation ground.

Wiveliscombe town councillors have given the plans their support.