CARNIVAL clubs which enter Wellington’s annual autumn procession could soon have their own dedicated construction and storage yard.

Members of the South Somerset Carnival Circuit, which includes Wellington, can spend most of the year designing and building their floats.

But they have relied on the generosity of farmers and other landowners for buildings in which they work on their carts.

Now, planning permission has been given for a permanent centre near Ilminster which will be able to house the various clubs year-round.

Somerset Council approved plans for the facility on part of the Dillington estate despite warnings it could set a precedent for industrial buildings in the open countryside.

The new facility will have enough space for five different carnival clubs and will be built along the lines of similar centres in Bridgwater and Glastonbury used by clubs which take part in the much larger Guy Fawkes Circuit of carnivals.

Campaign to Protect Rural England Somerset chairman Hugh Williams spoke against the project when it was considered by the council’s planning committee.

Mr Williams said: “This entirely rural and isolated site far from any town does not meet any of the local plan criteria for large-scale industrial use.”

He questioned if the future of local carnivals really depended on ‘a huge building being imposed on a rural community’.

South Somerset circuit spokesperson Barry Crabb, who supported the scheme, said the century-plus tradition of carnival was ‘unique to this part of the world, with benefits extending beyond social and economic factors’.

Mr Crabb said: “Carnival contributes to a wide audience that includes club members, supporters, spectators, and local businesses, there are many direct and indirect beneficiaries.”

Wellington Carnival, held on the last Saturday in September, traditionally kicks-off the South Somerset circuit, which also features Chard, Ilminster, and Taunton, and a decade ago included Yeovil, from where entries still take part.