HOPES that West Somerset could have a new swimming pool in the near future could be blown out of the water by the cost of the community facility.

Cabinet members of cash-strapped West Somerset Council this week gave the go ahead for a feasibility study into the proposal but councillors were warned there was every chance it would prove unaffordable.

Although a site has been identified on the West Somerset Community College campus in Minehead, the feasibility study is, in reality, being carried out only because it is a commitment in the council's corporate plan.

Cllr Neil Parbrook, lead member for community, told Wednesday's cabinet meeting: "There is every chance that this will come back as unaffordable.

"I don't want people to get their hopes up but it will show us what we need to work towards to get it (a pool) done."

He added: "There is a high chance that this council will not be in a position to afford it, but as it stands, we do not know.

"This is the first step in the right direction but without it, there are too many unknowns.

"There is a good chance that we won't be able to go ahead."

As reported in last week's Free Press, the council's finance officer Graham Carne had warned that expectations around the project needed to be managed.

He said although funding for the study had been identified - from 'section 106' planning gain money - the costs associated with the design, build and operation of a pool were not contained within the council's medium term plan.

However, Mr Carne told the cabinet meeting that there were other agencies that could possibly take on the project.

"It doesn't have to be this council that takes on the risk," he said.

The district has been without a public pool since the Aquasplash leisure centre in Minehead was demolished last November - almost a year after it was closed following a leak.

The council, which built and owned the centre, decided it could no longer afford the running costs of the loss-making facility.

It had previously pulled the plug on its £9 million commitment to provide a pool within the New Horizons healthplex in Minehead after the true state of its finances became apparent following the departure of former chief executive Tim Howes, his deputy Rod Latham and a change in the Conservative-controlled administration to a new Independent-run leadership.

Former cabinet member Cllr Jon Freeman said everybody wanted to see a pool in West Somerset as soon as possible.

"But the reality is that in the short term there is absolutely no prospect and in the medium term there is absolutely no prospect.

"To imagine otherwise is sheer wishful thinking. In the longer term - who knows? But that is a long way off in the future."

Cllr Freeman argued that it was pointless to spend public money on a feasibility study at the present time because it would be out of date by the time it was needed.

"This should be brought back in a couple of years - that will be the time to spend the money," he said.

Cllr Kate Kravis said taking the decision to close Aquasplash had been one of the lowest points of her time as a councillor.

"We understand the strength of feeling in the community over the closure of the pool," she said.

"There is a risk with this feasibility study but I think it is the right thing to do and I think the people of West Somerset would say the same thing.

"We are not raising people's hopes but if we don't do it, we will have no chance.

"We have to be in it to win it."

The study will look at the capital and running costs of a pool, the need for it, the type of users and their requirements.

Councillors were told that there would not be any widespread public consultation on the proposal, with the consultants largely seeking the views of key groups, such as Minehead Swimming Club and the PALS organisation which provides swimming sessions for the elderly and disabled.

But they won an assurance that people would have a chance to post their views on the council's website, ensuring wider consultation.

Deputy leader Cllr Michael Downes said he remained optimistic about the project but warned that the feasibility study was "the first step on what may be a very long road".