ALMOST £5 million of council-owned land will have to be sold off if West Somerset District Council is to have enough money to complete a wide range of schemes and projects over the next two years.

The cash-strapped authority is facing a shortfall of £4.8 million if it ploughs ahead with its current £14.4 million capital programme.

Although still in a draft stage, the programme was generally welcomed by the majority of the council's cabinet when they met on Monday.

Most accepted that 'under-utilised land holdings' would have to be sold to generate the extra funding needed to complete the programme.

A final version of the programme will be agreed at next month's full council meeting before being submitted to the Government for further scrutiny.

As reported in last week's Free Press, Clanville Road car park, in Minehead, and a plot of land alongside the town's Ellicombe roundabout are among the sites that could be sold off to generate much needed cash.

Deputy leader Cllr Colin Hill told cabinet members the authority would make at least £36,000 more by selling the car park than it currently cost to run the facility.

In a report to the committee, deputy chief executive Rod Latham said that some of the funds needed to carry out projects in the capital programme would come from match-funding from partner organisations.

He expected "external grants" to tot up to more than £3 million, while a Government social housing grant would come in just short of £2 million.

The council could use £3.2 million of the money left over from the sale of its own housing stock, and a further £500,000 would come from the Government in various grants known as credit approvals.

The remainder would have to come from the sale of land.

Mr Latham said: "The capital strategy is not just a list of schemes. However good they may be or accurately prioritised, it has to make good sense overall and fit with the council's comprehensive plan and the emerging community strategy.

"It is likely that we will need to work closely with other organisations and agencies in the area if we are to genuinely achieve the major outcomes set out in the corporate objectives.

"Economic regeneration, social inclusion, affordable housing and improved access to services are all difficult issues to tackle.

"It is unrealistic to assume that the challenges that they present can be effectively met by working on our own.

"We will use the capital programme to form a basis for working with other agencies and funders in all sectors."

He added: "To fund what is an ambitious programme for a relatively small authority, the council will be looking to sell off currently under-utilised land holdings."

Schemes currently included in the plan include a 'ball park' figure of £1.7 million for a new centralised council office, with a further £300,000 earmarked for satellite offices.

Another £167,000 could be spent on a new computer system for the council's revenues and benefits section, £200,000 on waste disposal and recycling, £888,000 on building 23 homes at Townsend Farm and £1 million on 'economic regeneration'.