OBJECTORS have failed to block a controversial development in a Minehead conservation area.

West Somerset Council's planning committee has approved a bid by Renscombe Properties Ltd to demolish a former timber church hut in Woodcombe Lane and replace it with two detached houses.

The application first went before the committee in January when it was also approved - by committee chairman Cllr Tony Knight's casting vote.

But a procedural error - the failure of a site notice to flag up that the development would be outside Minehead's building line - meant it went before councillors again at a meeting last Thursday.

And this time the scheme was backed by eight votes to five - a decision that objectors described this week as "extremely disappointing".

Spokesman Stuart Robinson said the development was not only outside the building line but also in a designated conservation area.

"About 40 objectors attended last Thursday's meeting and quite frankly we all felt that we had not been listened to," he said.

Mr Robinson said the Woodcombe area had been given conservation status in 2006, which placed a legal requirement on the council to pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the area.

"Woodcombe, particularly the row of 18th century cottages, is important to the social history of the town and has a picturesque quality in the valley at the foot of the Exmoor National Park," he said.

"This planning permission for two houses will desecrate everything that is important about the site."

Mr Robinson said a 300-name petition had been handed in to the council, with 98 of the signatories Woodcombe residents.

"That is an overwhelming number - around 80 per cent of the people who live in Woodcombe - and shows the strength of feeling locally.

"We feel very let down by this decision."

In a report to the committee recommending approval, deputy planning manager Kenneth Taylor said that although the site was outside the development limits of Minehead, the local planning authority was currently unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply and that consequently the proposal should be judged on sustainable development principles.

Mr Taylor said the site was suitably located in transport sustainability terms because it was within relatively easy cycling distance of Minehead.

He also concluded that the design, scale and layout of the scheme would be in keeping with its surroundings, that the character and appearance of the conservation area would not be harmed and the setting of adjoining listed buildings not harmed.

The amenities of neighbouring residents and adjoining landowners would be safeguarded and the access and parking arrangements acceptable.

l Councillors turned down a bid for a separate development in Woodcombe.

Plans to build a four-bedroom detached house with a garage in the garden of Green Hollow failed to find favour with the committee.

The application attracted 12 letters of objection, with Minehead Town Council and Minehead Conservation Society also against the proposal.

In a report to the committee, Mr Taylor, who recommended refusal, said the design, scale and siting of the proposed house did not reflect the scale and character of the surrounding buildings - although it was considered the site could accommodate a well-designed single dwelling.

Parking provision was also inadequate and the development was likely to lead to the parking of vehicles on the public highway.

And, Mr Taylor said, the proposed access to Bratton Lane did not include the necessary visibility splays.