A £1 MILLION flagship community and sports centre at Alcombe is facing a £75,000 cash shortfall to complete it after a cut in a hoped for package of grant aid. Part of the much trumpeted SureStart building remains an empty shell - and could now be used as offices - following a decision by the Football Foundation to reduce its level of funding for the changing rooms element of the scheme and work to resolve long standing pitch flooding problems. The charity has offered a capital grant of £155,524, which is just 37 per cent of the total £415,463 cost of the sports side of the development on the King George V playing field. It had been hoped more money would be made available. But last week it emerged that only £305,524 of the capital cost is considered eligible for Football Foundation cash. This was because West Somerset District Council, which owns the building, pushed ahead to ensure work started on the project to avoid losing other funding pledges. The charity's rules are understood to preclude it from making retrospective grants for projects begun before funding bids are decided. But district council chief executive Tim Howes told the Free Press yesterday (Thursday) that the Football Foundation was well aware of the situation before construction started. "We told them that we would have to start work on the building so they knew it would be an issue," he said. "However, we were assured that would not affect the grant and everything would be all right." Mr Howes said the changing rooms area had the potential to be used for offices, not necessarily by the district council, but could be rented out to other public bodies or organisations. He said it would not be a suitable location for district council satellite offices when the authority centralises its operations and builds a new headquarters in Williton. The Alcombe building is one of four SureStart community and family centres built across the district - all of which have been surrounded by varying degrees of controversy - funded by a mixture of largely European and Government grant aid and spearheaded by the district council. The Alcombe development was intended to house a children's nursery, crèche, family support services, offices, a part-time dental surgery and sports facilities to include changing rooms, showers and toilets, as well as a 24-space car park. But currently the changing rooms remain unfitted and drainage work to the pitch is yet to be carried out. Minehead Town Council, which owns the playing field, had originally been planning a 'stand alone' new changing rooms scheme on the land but was persuaded to go into partnership with the district authority for a combined building. Under the deal, the town council had to pledge £75,000 towards the capital cost, which effectively it was told was a bargain for a new sports facility in return. But last Wednesday town councillors were faced with a series of unsatisfactory options to tackle the current crisis: l To accept the Football Foundation grant offered and complete the project of fitting the changing rooms and draining the pitch - even though with the £60,000 it previously set aside for the pitch improvements there would still be a £75,000 shortfall to which the district was unwilling to contribute. l To turn down the grant, leave the changing rooms unfitted and allow the district council to use the vacant part of the building for offices. Councillors finally agreed to drain the pitch independently at the estimated cost of £60,000 but pursue both the Football Foundation and the district council over the funding shortfall, agreeing that the town could not afford to foot the bill for the additional money. Cllr Simon Stokes, who is both a town and district councillor, said the town council had been "stitched up". "The district council is talking about getting a lot of money for the sale of the Vulcan Road car park - the authority is short of revenue funding but this project would be capital," said Cllr Stokes. "£75,000 is a lot of money for us and I imagine the district's decision not to contribute any more money to this scheme is one which has been taken by officers, not councillors." Cllr Stokes said he applauded the district for getting the SureStart building in Alcombe but warned that the authority should meet its obligations and not be "let off the hook". The Football Foundation was accused of "welshing on its deal" by Cllr Stephen Dear but Cllr Tony Berry, who chairs the town's finance committee, said the problem had arisen because the work was started on the building. "The district council wanted to get on with the SureStart development." Cllr Doug Ross said the town had committed money in good faith to the project and must press ahead with its previous plans to improve the drainage of the pitch. Peter Woodley, a South West-based director with European consultancy company Atisreal, was appointed by the district council to help submit the Football Foundation funding bid and, town councillors were told, is now in discussions with the charity on behalf of the project partners. He is understood to have pointed out to the charity that the district council has already invested £109,000 to the project and will not commit any more money. He has also said that SureStart and New Opportunities funding, which was needed to provide the facilities other than the changing rooms, was time limited and had to be spent by March last year. The stalemate has left Alcombe Rovers Football Club, which has struggled to cope with the pitch problems and inadequate changing facilities for years, less than happy. Its treasurer Alan Floyd said: "We understood that the changing rooms would be ready last August but the building is still empty. "The pitch is an ongoing problem and we do sometimes have to cancel games. "All we are being told is that the project has run out of money but the existing changing rooms are small and in a terrible state. "We pay £200 a year rent to the town council to use the pitch and facilities and it makes us angry when we know that Minehead Football Club isn't paying any rent for the Irnham Road ground."