COUNCILLORS have labelled a conservation officer at Somerset Council as a “jobsworth” over objection comments made about Wellington AFC putting up new floodlights at its football ground.

The club has applied to Somerset Council for planning permission to go-ahead with the new and improved floodlights – which would be far more environmentally-friendly and energy efficient – at its ground at the Wellington Playing Field.

But members of Wellington Town Council’s planning committee were left baffled and angered when they met on October 7 at opposition raised by a conservation officer over the harm the planned new floodlights could cause to the town’s heritage.

Kerry Kerr-Peterson said that the new floodlights would cause harm to the nearby Grade II Listed Wellington Park.

“The proposed floodlights would be a substantial height in the vicinity of the park,” she wrote in a report. “The setting of these designated heritage assets has the potential to be harmed by the installation of the floodlights through their visual intrusion.”

But Cllr John Thorne said he was “appalled” at the objections raised by Somerset Council’s conservation officer.

“I’m not sure what I can call them – a ‘jobsworth’ might be a polite way,” he said. “The lights will have no impact on Wellington Park – the park is locked at night.

“We want the club to do well and be successful and these new floodlights will help the club going forward.

“But the report from the conservation officer is total nonsense. What they’ve written is no different if someone wanted to build the Wellington Monument now and somebody put in an objection because it would spoil the view of the hills.”

The Mayor Cllr Janet Lloyd said she did not want to be quite so “polite” as Cllr Thorne in her remarks about the conservation officer.

She said: “I think if the conservation officer wants to conserve – come and sort out Teare’s shop in the town centre,” she said in reference to the eyesore former E. J. Teare newsagents building in South Street which has been empty since 2017.

Cllr Andrew Govier said: “I wholeheartedly support this application. It will have benefits for the environment and reduce electricity usage.

“This development is important for the club to continue playing at the same level and to play evening games.”

The club plans to replace eight 15m tall floodlights with four new 18m floodlights – all fitted with eco-friendly LED lights.

“LED floodlights are much more economical to run and maintain, they use less energy and have a much longer design life making them the preferred choice for sports facilities up and down the country,” said Josh Egginton, of Abacus Lighting, in a report.

The new floodlights would be positioned in such a way that they would not need to be taken down during the summer months to enable cricket to be played.

The football club shares the ground with Wellington Cricket Club and four of the existing floodlights have to be taken down during the summer and stored as they are on the cricket pitch.