PLANNERS are set to approve an eight-storey care facility in Taunton - even though it will "adversely impact" the view from a number of heritage sites.

The proposed development involves demolishing a disused tower block to make way for a 62-bedroom care home and 51 extra care apartments over a number of ground floor shops.

If the proposals are approved on Wednesday and everything goes to plan, the project could be completed with its first residents moving in by mid-2019.

The original plans for the scheme to replace Quantock House, in Paul Street - which housed the Government's Valuation Office and Defra before falling vacant a number of years ago - have been scaled back from the original nine storeys to satisfy planners' concerns.

Owners Bournemouth-based Quantum Group said the building will be mostly glazed, with glass balconies attached to each apartment and parking in an undercroft.

Officers recommend granting conditional approval, although their report said: "In terms of the visual impacts, the presence of the new building would be felt from a good many locations across the town.

"However, this is unlikely to cause a significant adverse visual impact in its own right to the detriment of the general amenity of the area.

"There will clearly be an impact on the skyline...(in) that the proposal will adversely impact upon the setting of many heritage assets.

"Your officers consider that the proposal will cause less than substantial harm to the setting of heritage assets and that, on balance, this is outweighed by the benefits of providing bespoke elderly persons accommodation in this highly accessible location."

Officers added that they want Quantum to pay towards pedestrian crossing facilities at the traffic lights at the junction of Paul Street and Mary Street.

The report also said the area suffers from high crime levels - there were 482 offences recorded in the year from October 2015 - and the developers need to pay "additional attention" to security.

The council received several objections to the scheme, including fears about the amount of shops planned, the scale of the building, its design and too much old people's accommodation in the town centre.

But they were outweighed by letters of support, including suggestions it will help push down bed blocking at Musgrove park Hospital, boost public art and revitalise a derelict area.