AN application for funding to help replace all the gym equipment at the West Somerset Sports and Leisure Centre at West Somerset College has been turned down by the CIM Fund.

The college had applied for £57,094 to help towards the £145,002 it needs to replace equipment that will be removed when current contractors 1610 finish their ten-year lease to run the centre.

But Peter Elliott, chief executive officer of Bridgwater College Trust, of which West Somerset College is part, said: “This will provide some delays, but no permanent setbacks.”

The college announced two weeks ago that it would safeguard and improve the district’s only major sports centre after cash-strapped Somerset County Council said it would not renew 1610’s contract to provide community leisure facilities at eight sites, including the college, when it expired in March.

In its application to the CIM Fund, West Somerset College said it aimed to replace all gym equipment, such as spin bikes, exercise mats and weights, that will be removed at the end of the current contract.

It also aimed to ensure the impacted community was able to continue to access gym facilities in Minehead.

However, the CIM Fund said the application did not meet the funding criteria or support the priorities for the remaining funds, and that the area had received funding from the CIM Fund and Hinkley Leisure fund for similar projects in the area.

Full story in the Free Press.