PLANS for a dementia care centre have been approved despite strong opposition.

The new facility planned for Alcombe has a complex history and has caused controversy with some local residents.

The building was initially approved in 2017 for a six-bed bungalow which would be an assisted living annexe to the Dene Lodge Nursing Home, and part of this approval stated that there would be no access to the building from Dunster Close.

However construction of the new building ceased in December due to the decision by Dene Lodge Nursing to use the new building for long term care of people suffering from dementia, referred from Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

The new amended proposal is to create a larger 'hospital' with bedrooms and en-suite wet-rooms, easier access corridors for the use of body hoist equipment, which proved impossible to incorporate into the shape of the approved building.

The plans were passed at a meeting on Thursday (may 30) with eight votes for and three against.

Cllr Ian Aldridge took a particular stand against the plans, stating it was a 'creeping development'.

He echoed other residents who feared another planning application would be submitted down the line for an even larger development.

Residents claimed this had already happened, with the current proposal being bigger than the previous application which was granted

Cllr Aldridge said: "I have this feeling that residents who have rejected these plans will say to me 'I told you so'.

"What they have feared would happen, has happened.

"It's too large for this site."

Minehead Town Council also lodged a recommendation to reject the plans, stating issues such as lack of parking.

Despite the concerns, the committee voted to approve the plans as per the officer's recommendations.