WEST Somerset's multi-million pound New Horizons 'healthplex' scheme has dramatically collapsed after district councillors were forced to accept they could not afford to put a penny into the project. Health chiefs have been quick to stress the disaster - which will cost the district a new pool and leisure centre - will not signal the end of the long-awaited new community hospital. Hospital bosses said they were confident the scheme would go according to plan, although high level discussions are continuing to hammer out a solution to the funding shortfall. West Somerset Council was due to invest £11.2 million into New Horizons, which would have paid for the bulk of the leisure centre and more than £4 million of infrastructure costs. On Wednesday, councillors conceded their element was "not affordable" and voted to withdraw all funding from the project after being told their investments were exhausted and their capital programme was £6.5million adrift. Deputy leader and staunch supporter of the project, Cllr Simon Stokes, told the full council meeting the scheme's partners - Somerset Primary Care Trust, Somerset County Council, the West Somerset Community College and the district council - were "devastated" by the news. He said councillors had been expecting to sign and seal a deal for the New Horizons scheme by Christmas and the decision to shelve the council's contribution had come as a bitter blow. He said: "This is a culmination of a lot of hard work and I am still very committed to the idea of New Horizons and what it can do for our community. "The community needs to know where we are. It is a hard pill for us to swallow. "We have partners who have worked a long time on this, who are committed to it, who will be affected by our problems. There is a commitment to keep as much as possible alive." In a statement released yesterday, Cllr Stokes pledged the council's continuing support for the project. "While we are deeply upset at the discovery that our finances are not sufficient to proceed with the leisure centre at the present time, we have already invested £2.7m in buying land to help facilitate the project and we remain dedicated to it. "We have pledged our continued commitment to support and facilitate the delivery of the revised New Horizons. "We hope that in the future we may be able to make financial contributions towards a leisure centre, but that just is not possible at the moment. "We are delighted that work on the skills and enterprise centre is already under way and that the construction of the community hospital, rural skills centre, all-weather sports pitches and much- needed housing could still proceed." He said the council was now undertaking detailed discussions with partners to decide how to help with the infrastructure costs. He added: "We would also like to offer our sincere thanks to partners who have been very supportive and positive, given the position the council has found itself in. "We also take this opportunity to recognise the hard work that all partners have put into getting the project this far. "In particular, we would like to pay tribute to the West Somerset Community College which, led by Nick Swann, has driven New Horizons forward and provided the inspiration and vision for the whole project." Andrew Tucker, Somerset County Council's group manager for corporate property, said: "Somerset County Council is committed to working with partners to produce a revised New Horizons project." No formal statement was available from the primary care trust. l At Wednesday night's full council meeting, the council's final resolution, which was supported by councillors from across the political divide, was: "Notwithstanding the fact that the council is not, at the current time, in a position to assign capital funding to the scheme, it nevertheless commits to continue to work with all partners to do all it possibly can to facilitate the delivery of a revised New Horizons project, including the construction of a new Community Hospital."