ANY fall-out from a planning debacle surrounding the conversion of a disused historic Quantock Hills public house to holiday accommodation is due to be discussed by parish councillors next month.

Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) planning officer Ben Gilpin and planning committee chairman Cllr Simon Coles together approved the change of use of the Blue Ball Inn, Triscombe, ignoring the authority’s own guidance on how it should have been handled.

The application by owner Grant Fowler to convert the 400-year-old pub to a ‘Sleeps 12’ holiday let was granted in December despite objections from parish councillors and local residents.

There was also strong opposition from Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty managers who feared it would affect the peaceful tourism appeal of the hills.

The Free Press highlighted how the council should first have allowed all members of its planning committee to debate the application before a decision was reached.

SWT leader Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts then admitted an ‘administrative error’ and ordered a High Court application to quash the decision, which was the legal route to overturn it and allow it to be correctly determined.

The issue will be on the agenda for the next meeting of West Bagborough Parish Council on March 16.

Parish council chairman Cllr Martin Jones said: “Normally, the planning officers get the rules right and it was a bit of a surprise that they messed up on this one.”

Cllr Jones said the parish council at first felt it would not need to comment on the Blue Ball Inn application because it recognised that efforts to keep it running as a viable pub had failed.

However, he said about 25 local residents attended the meeting where parish councillors discussed it - more than 10 times the usual public attendance.

Cllr Jones said: “It was a very vociferous meeting so our response was driven by what the local people were saying.

“Some of them were very upset about it indeed.

“One of the things behind it was worry that there might be an even larger holiday-type development coming along, because there have been problems with a couple of sites in the parish.”