PLANS for an ambitious £200,000 upgrade of facilities at Minehead Rugby Club were given the full support of West Somerset Council's cabinet this week.

Councillors were told the club wanted to improve disabled access, create a viewing gallery, upgrade the kitchen and build new changing rooms with en-suite shower facilities.

Cabinet members said they were impressed by the plans and the dedication of club members, and they agreed to ask the full council to give £50,000 of planning gain money to the scheme when they meet later this month.

Rugby club secretary Colin Howells told Wednesday's cabinet meeting the changes were vital to meet demand and to cater for the club's growing number of female players and coaches.

He said the club currently only had communal showers and changing rooms, while the kitchen was no longer fit for purpose.

The refurbishment would improve ground floor access for disabled people, create a first floor disabled toilet and viewing balcony, a larger, catering-standard kitchen and six spacious, individual changing rooms with a new referees' room.

Young player Ben Willis, 16, told councillors the rugby club offered members a host of opportunities, both on and off the pitch.

"The game is a great leveller and brings people from all backgrounds together," he said.

He said his twin sister used to play in a ladies' side but had to give up due to dwindling team numbers: "That was largely due to the lack of changing facilities," he said.

Mini section coach Dionne Jones said she was forced to change in the toilets after matches and said the current club facilities were not meeting an ever-increasing demand.

The refurbishment would also include a number of green energy measures including photo voltaic roof tiles, a ground source heat system and rainwater harvesting.

Councillors were told the club would be putting in £50,000 of its own money and had also applied for £50,000 from Sport England and a further £50,000 from the Rugby Football Union.

Cllr Kate Kravis, the council's lead member for finance, said it was clear the club was doing its bit to ensure the success of the scheme.

"There is an element of match funding here, they are not just sat there and expecting it to fall in their laps," she said. "We've got the money there, let's move forward to get this project off the ground.".

She said the council was still waiting for the views of Minehead Town Council on the funding application and said there had been a delay following the "misinterpretation" of the club's accounts.

Minehead town and district councillor Les Smith said the town council had been reluctant to give the club any money because the accounts showed the organisation was "quite well off".

But finance chiefs reassured cabinet members that although the accounts seemed to show a £128,000 surplus, the figure was not "liquid money" but included investments and assets - the cash balance was actually £20,000.

Cllr Martin Dewdney said he did not understand why the town council was reluctant to support the rugby club, while others, including Cllr Richard Lillis, praised the club for its commitment to young people and the sport.

Cllr David Sanders added: "This is a growing club and that is down to the enthusiasm and expertise of members of the club.

"I can also say that the existing catering facilities can be best described as challenging to say the least."

The club said it was expecting to hear the outcome of its two separate grant applications sometime next month.

The proposed £50,000 contribution from the council would come from money paid to the authority by developers to offset the impact of building work in Minehead.

Cabinet members recommended the money be given to the club, subject to further feedback from Minehead Town Council.

A final decision would be taken by the full council at its meeting on November 21.

l Cabinet members agreed to give £24,000 to community arts consortium Artlife to "reinvigorate" the existing Coleridge Way trail through West Somerset.

The money had been specifically allocated to the scheme as a result of the approved preliminary works at the Hinkley Point C site.

Cllr Chris Morgan said any enhancement of the Coleridge Way was a good thing, especially if it encouraged more people to use it and boosted tourism in the district.