SUPPORTERS of West Somerset's major youth project, Minehead EYE, have managed to persuade district councillors to consider amending their budget plans to include a potential funding pot of £750,000 for the ambitious scheme next year. As members of West Somerset District Council's cabinet met to recommend a £4.77 million budget for the forthcoming financial year - accepting an overspend of £298,800 for this year in the process, £140,000 of which was billed as "abortive costs" on the abandoned Minehead council office scheme - it was pointed out that very little cash had been allocated for Minehead EYE until 2008-09. Those spearheading plans to bring an all-weather youth facility to the area - now earmarked for the Somerset County Council-owned site alongside the railway station in Minehead - told councillors on Wednesday that three to four years was too long to wait for funding. Neil Parbrook told members there were high hopes Minehead EYE would be up and running within two years, well before the district council had estimated cash would be needed. He said a four-year delay for a typical 14-year-old supporter of the project might just as well be a lifetime as the young people currently backing the plans would have grown older and possibly moved on. "This is no pipedream," he said. "This is far too good an opportunity to miss. We could get this done. We could make this happen. We have a duty to make this happen." Teenager David Flynn added: "We have the land now, we have the support now, why can't we have the money now?" Council leader Cllr Steven Pugsley said council officers had earmarked funding predominantly for the 2008-09 financial year as they believed that was when the money would actually be spent on completing the project. But he won the full support of his colleagues when he recommended bringing forward the proposed cash to the 2007-08 financial year on condition the group prepared a viable business plan. He also promised to give Minehead EYE a written pledge from the authority to provide the cash to enable supporters to apply for all-important match funding. But he warned that, like so many of the council's projects, future budgets rested on the successful sale of assets such as Minehead's Vulcan Road car park. Cllr Jess Griffith said she had real concerns over the impact of any delays in the sale of the car park on the youth project and called for councillors to support the scheme irrespective of where the money was coming from. She was assured by Cllr Pugsley that he "didn't think there would be a problem" with the Vulcan Road car park sale, while deputy chief executive Rod Latham reaffirmed that the deal should be completed within 12 months. Cllr Bryan Leaker said he hoped the council would also be able to offer Minehead EYE expertise and help throughout the process of drawing up a business plan, applying for funding and submitting a planning application. "This isn't a new project, it's been around for years and now we have an opportunity to make it work," he said. "We have to get behind this project to bring it to reality for the sake of West Somerset's youth."
