A DEDICATED town centre manager and a new cultural quarter could be on the cards in Minehead after the go-ahead was given for the first cheques to be written from a £200,000 funding pot.

Improvements to the bandstand in Blenheim Gardens, new signs at the Enterprise Park and seating on The Esplanade are among the schemes earmarked for the first round of cash.

Money will also be given to the Minehead Development Trust to support a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of plans to revitalise the town's old hospital.

Additional cash has also been put to one side for the creation of a new "visioning manager's" post to the tune of around £70,000 for 18 months work, plus £50,000 towards the Regal Theatre's Lift Off Project.

At last Wednesday's West Somerset Council cabinet meeting, councillors agreed to give a total of £28,937 to four schemes.

Corinne Matthews, the council's economic regeneration manager, said the £200,000 had come as an unexpected Government windfall in 2009 and, since then, a dedicated group had been working on plans to ensure every penny was well spent.

"This payment was made in recognition of the important role that towns such as Minehead play in the coastal economy, linked to the fact that Minehead was one of the most 25 deprived coastal towns in England.

"In order to make best use of the current available funds, the authority decided that it should use key organisations and individuals operating in Minehead to help advise on how best to utilise them.

"This led to the setting up of the Minehead Visioning Group, which was intended to assist in the creation and implementation of a vision for Minehead," Ms Matthews said.

The visioning group includes representatives from the district council, Minehead Town Council, Somerset County Council and Minehead Chamber of Trade, as well as members of other key groups and organisations in the town.

Ms Matthews said the group had now drawn up a detailed action plan, with key priorities and targets by working under the agreed vision that in 2020 Minehead would be a "thriving, prosperous, safe and attractive town, with access to quality services and facilities for residents, businesses and visitors alike".

To that end, all bids for strategy funding must fit with the vision statement and the group's action plan before being considered for funding by the district council.

Council leader Cllr Tim Taylor said the authority had been keen to work with a wide range of organisations to ensure the money was well spent in the town.

In the first raft of funding, cabinet members agreed to give £10,000 to the Minehead Development Trust to enable it to create an outline conservation statement, a brief for the commissioning of a conservation management plan and a heritage education activity plan.

All three things are needed before the trust can submit a bid for lottery funding towards the cost of turning the old hospital building into a community and cultural hub for the town.

A further £10,000 was agreed as a "worst case scenario" for the maintenance and refurbishment of the bandstand in Blenheim Gardens to create a more flexible performance space.

A grant of £8,137 was given towards a £9,300 project for new signs at Minehead Enterprise Park, which tied-in with the visioning group's aim of creating clearer links between different areas of the town.

Cabinet members were told a number of key signs had been removed over the years and the new ones would improve access to businesses.

An additional £800 was given to support the council's own scheme to improve the seafront and Esplanade area, which has already been allocated £12,633 from planning obligation funding.

"Clearly this area is important for tourism in the town and the visioning group supported this," Ms Matthews said.

Cabinet members also agreed to ring-fence an additional £120,000 of the funding pot for two future schemes - the Regal Lift Off Project and the appointment of a visioning manager.

Planning permission has just been given for amended plans to improve access and box office facilities at the Regal Theatre, and now a business case will be submitted alongside a formal bid for £50,000 towards the Lift Off Project.

Ms Matthews said work was still being done on the creation of visioning manager's post, although an estimated £70,000 was likely to be needed for the 18 months-long role.

She said the manager would be "key to the future delivery of the action plan", although the finer details of the post were still being decided.

However, the group had decided that the manager's key task would be to attract additional funding to the area and to set up and co-ordinate projects to improve the "vitality and vibrancy" of the town and to establish a business plan for the regeneration of Minehead.

"Whatever the exact detail of the role, the capacity that it creates is absolutely vital in order to enable progress to be made.

"Minehead Development Trust volunteered at the last meeting of the visioning group, in principle, to host the post or oversee the contract.

"At this stage there is still work to do on some details of the post," Ms Matthews said.

But there was criticism from some councillors about the amount of funding being requested for the post although others felt a high wage would be needed to attract the right application to the job.

"If you pay peanuts you'll get monkeys," Cllr Richard Lillis warned.

Cllr Kate Kravis, the lead member for finance, said it was vital the council had more information on the role before being formally asked to hand over any money.

But she and her cabinet colleagues supported any move to try and attract more funding to the area and gave their support to both the Regal appeal and the manager's post.

"I'm really pleased Minehead is working together to spend this money and working together for the benefit of Minehead," she said.

Cabinet members were told the £200,000 had been given specifically for Minehead to boost the local seaside economy.

Ms Matthews added: "These payments were an offshoot of other coastal funding and were intended to contribute to small seaside towns' economies.

"The use of the funds is not prescriptive, which leaves the authority in receipt of the fund to determine how best to support their own economy."