A NEW town-centre development for Minehead providing flats, offices and retail space and which would generate nearly 20 new jobs, has been approved by Somerset West and Taunton planning committee, despite efforts to get the project delayed after criticism of the design.

Julian Bloys had applied for permission to demolish his laundry building in the narrow Market House Lane building behind The Parade and build a three-storey development which would include seven one-bedroom flats.

At their meeting last Thursday, several councillors criticised the design of the building. It was described as “like a prison” and out of keeping with the Wellington Square development area.

Objections had been received from Minehead Town Council and in a statement Minehead Conservation Society claimed that the proposed design had no relationship with neighbouring buildings and would be “an act of vandalism”.

But a proposal by Williton and Watchet councillor Ian Aldridge to defer a decision to give the applicants time to rethink the design was defeated by eight votes to five.

Cllr Aldridge said: “I don’t think the proposals are sympathetic enough to the conservation area. I think there is a lack of flair shown by the architects to get this building looking right for this particular location.”

Planning officer Alex Lawley told the committee that the application was considered to be a good mix of uses for the site which was currently in light industrial use in a predominantly residential area.

In a statement to the committee, Mr Bloy said 34 people were currently employed in the existing building, which was old and becoming unfit for purpose. Julians Laundry Service was in process of relocating to larger premises on Mart Road, to meet the increased demand from customers, which included Butlins and many hotels.

The committee heard that the flats would be one-bedroom dwellings, with four on the first floor and the remaining three on the second floor, while the ground floor would be reserved for offices, retail space or a café.

The applicants originally wished to turn the nearby White House into a further six flats, but this element was subsequently removed from the application.

Mr Lawrey said: “This will be a car-free development – there is no associated car parking. Instead, there is an area earmarked for cycle parking. There are at least four public car parks within less than a five-minute walk from the site.”

Mr Bloys said that allowing the business to relocate less than a mile away would create more local jobs.

He added: “As a business, we currently produce in excess of five million pieces of linen annually, much of which comes from one of Minehead’s main tourist facilities – this being Butlin’s.

“As UK holidays in places such as Butlin’s continue to be increasingly popular, the demand for commercial laundry facilities has increased.

“As a business, we have therefore found that our current aged and small premises has become unsuitable for commercial laundry use.

“As a resident of Minehead, it is extremely important to me that my business remains in Minehead. My business has begun a partial relocation to Mart Road.

“Full relocation will enable us to double our capacity for commercial laundry demand and provide a further 20 additional jobs on the Mart Road site.”

A further 19 additional jobs are expected to be created in the new office or retail space on the ground floor of the Market House Lane site.

Cllr Andrew Sully raised concerns about the design of the new building, stating its eastern side resembled “a prison” and could impact on Minehead’s conservation area.

He said: “The proportion of the windows in the locality should be respected - at the moment, they look like little slits.”

Cllr Sue Buller disagreed, stating: “I actually like the design – but it may well be because I’ve spent a lot of my time around the London Docklands area and seen how things developed there.

“This isn’t a business that’s closing down – it’s a business that’s relocating and expanding its workforce. Looking at the existing building at the moment, it doesn’t fit – it’s got a metal roof that’s not fit for purpose.”

Cllr Roger Habgood added: “This is meeting the housing need – there’s no doubt about that. This is good stuff, because the local housing need in Minehead is asking for these kinds of units to be built.”

The committee approved the plans by a margin of nine votes to three, with one abstention.