"THE public could be forgiven for thinking our goalposts have wheels on them, we move them so often," Alcombe Cllr Simon Stokes told Monday's special meeting of West Somerset District Council's cabinet and council. His comment received rapturous applause from the 60-strong members of the public who packed into West Somerset Community College to hear about the authority's latest plans for centralised offices. There was also applause for Cllr Keith Ross when he berated finance portfolio holder Cllr Roger Webber for telling councillors to remember how much money the existing Aquasplash leisure pool was losing each year in running costs. Cllr Ross said: "I am very concerned about the costs of Aquasplash but does Cllr Webber think spending £750,000 trying to develop offices in the wrong place is justified? That's three years' running costs at Aquasplash." Councillors had been asked to consider alternative sites for the location of the authority's centralised offices and speculative offices to rent after the original plans for land alongside Minehead railway station had to be abandoned. Among the proposals was the existing Aquasplash pool site, which many councillors believed should not be touched until an alternative pool deal was "signed and sealed". Other alternatives included the Minehead depot site within Vulcan Road and the existing council offices site in Williton. Cllr Christine Lawrence said she would prefer to see no gap in the provision of a new pool in West Somerset but said that, realistically, a small gap was more than likely. Her comments did not sit well with the public and Cllr Simon Stokes sought assurances that Aquasplash would remain open until a new pool was secured. "I want it in black and white it will not be closed," Cllr Stokes said. He added: "My biggest concern here is that we are contemplating spending £4 million on new offices to save an estimated £100,000 to £150,000 a year and yet of we had spent £1.5 to £2 million two years ago on Aquasplash we would be saving £100,000 to £250,000 a year on running the pool now." Councillors were also concerned about the feasibility of using the Somerset County Council- owned depot site as many believed the acquisition would take too long. Cllr Pugsley reminded members the authority had "right and properly" agreed to relocate to Minehead two years ago and that, in the event of the site alongside the railway not coming to fruition, the council would instead look at using Vulcan Road, which included the depot site. Cllr Pugsley said: "We still have a lot of information to collate to make sure we find the right site. "Two years on,I think the exact location [for relocation] must be looked at very finely indeed." Others were concerned that Williton was not pushed into third place in what was effectively a three- horse race Cllr Eddie May said Williton should be "looked at thoroughly" and reminded councillors the well- being of the entire district, not just Minehead, was at stake. He was supported by members of the public, including Williton parish Cllr Diane Hooper who told the meeting: "Williton is the roundabout of West Somerset. It is at the heart of the district. "Please do not abandon your most deprived parish. Stay and be a part of its regeneration." Cllr Pugsley maintained the council had taken the correct decision at the time to relocate to Minehead but said all options were now open for consideration, including Williton. "Williton needs to be looked at with fresh eyes," he told the meeting. But other councillors said they were concerned the authority seemed to be blundering headlong into more controversy by trying to take big decisions far too quickly. Cllr David Gliddon said the four-week consultation timescale hardly seemed sufficient and numerous questions had already gone unanswered, including the need for offices to let and a fibre-optic broadband link. He said the council needed to be thinking in the longer term rather than trying to fund developments in the short term by selling off vital council owned car parks. He said the council's list of "priorities" - schemes reliant on the sale of car parks, including a new pool, council offices and high tech broadband link - was simply "a wish list not a have-to-have list". He was warned by Cllr Webber that failing to make the most of "underused assets" would have serious implications on the authority's budget while a good broadband link would be vital for more rural communities. But Cllr Peter Humber went even further than Cllr Gliddon and called for the council to apologise to taxpayers for "the situation we now find ourselves in". Cllr Pugsley picked up the gauntlet but said the council could not be blamed for everything. He said: "Some have been self-inflicted and some have been beyond our control but rather than proportion blame we should accept we are where we are and move forward as an authority. "We have to reach some sort of proper decisions in a reasonable timescale. "We have spent an inordinate amount of time on many of these issues, years in fact. "It is important we reach a decision. But I must reiterate that nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out . . . hopefully we will be able to draw matters to a close at the council meeting in August."