DISTRICT councillors have given planning permission to a member of their ruling executive for solar panels to be in the garden of his home next to a conservation area in Minehead.

Cllr Benet Allen holds the communications portfolio for Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) and lives on North Hill, one of Minehead’s most sensitive areas.

His planning agent Adam Elston, of Architectural Studio SW Ltd, said the Edwardian five-bedroom semi-detached house in Martlett Road was on the lower slopes of North Hill and protected as part of the Wellington Square conservation area.

Mr Elston said Cllr Allen wanted to put 15 10-feet high ground mounted solar panels in his ‘substantial’ back garden which extended along the rear of Blenheim Mews.

The solar array would fill the 29.5-feet width of the garden but would reduce the carbon footprint of the property without affecting its appearance.

Mr Elston accepted the solar panels would affect the ‘character and appearance’ of the conservation area but not nearby homes, and said the garden was substantial enough that the loss of part of it would not affect Cllr Allen’s property.

However, SWT planning officer Sarah Wilsher said although Cllr Allen’s house was in the conservation area, the part of the garden to be used for the solar panels was outside.

Minehead town councillors did not object to the plans but asked that protecting the conservation area should be balanced against the climate change argument.

Ms Wilsher said the low height and discreet and secluded positioning of the panels tucked between stone and brick walls of neighbouring buildings and a stone boundary wall and vegetation meant the scheme would respect the setting of the conservation area while providing a sustainable form of renewable energy.

SWT planning committee members agreed and voted to give planning consent subject to a condition that the panels were removed within three months of no longer being needed.