RETROSPECTIVE planning permission has been given for a detached garage to be built at Barn Cottage, Combeland Road, Alcombe, Minehead, despite town councillors fearing it would damage the character of the village’s conservation area.

Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) planning committee heard work had already started on the 11 feet high garage and the widening of the cottage access and repairs to a boundary wall.

But SWT planning officer Sarah Wilsher said she did not consider the development would harm the conservation area or the character of the locality or the cottage itself.

Ms Wilsher said the plans had been amended to use natural timber cladding instead of painting the cladding black and to fit a tiled roof to match the cottage instead of sheet metal.