A CONTROVERSIAL bid to set up a visitor information centre in an empty town centre shop in Minehead won the backing of local councillors this week - but only by "default" after a rival scheme failed to put its case.

Just five members - less than a third - of the 16-strong Minehead Town Council voted for the shop proposal put forward by the Minehead Development Trust and agreed to invest a maximum £14,000 of local taxpayers' money into it this year - if it also wins the backing of West Somerset Council.

But only six councillors in total turned up at the special meeting called to discuss the merits of the proposal, against an opposing bid from a town council working group to reopen the existing purpose-built seafront visitor information centre.

At least ten members of the public, several West Somerset councillors, local Somerset county councillor Brenda Maitland-Walker and even district council chief executive Adrian Dyer attended the meeting on Monday evening.

But they faced a 25-minute delay before any debate could begin because the meeting was not quorate as the minimum number of town councillors required had not shown up.

A last minute call to Cllr Ron Bridle, who was running late after being on business outside the district, ensured the meeting could go ahead.

The debate was to have been preceded by presentations on both proposals.

However, among the empty seats in the council chamber were those belonging to the working group members - Cllrs Marcus Kravis, Molly Studley, Stephen Grice and Mayor Terry Venner, who was unwell.

The district council had previously extended a deadline by which the town council had to decide which proposal it favoured.

The district owns the seafront building which closed last October after councillors decided they could no longer afford the annual £40,000 running costs.

But having been asked to financially support each of the proposals to the tune of around £20,000, the district said it had to have a decision on the town council's preferred proposal by Tuesday to allow officers time to prepare a report for a special meeting it is holding on April 16 to discuss visitor centre provision.

With no presentation from the working group - it later emerged that Cllrs Kravis and Grice felt they had a "predetermined" view of the MDT proposal and could not view it with an open mind - councillors decided to hear the only bid effectively on the table.

MDT chairman Jenny Lennon-Wood had previously expressed the group's disappointment and frustration when it appeared the meeting would have to be abandoned.

She said it would have been courteous if the working group had told MDT that it would not be making its presentation.

But council clerk Sue Sanders said: "They didn't tell us either."

Mrs Lennon-Wood said the MDT, whose membership included representatives from a wide range of community, business, heritage and charitable organisations, local authorities and the tourism industry, had drawn up plans for a visitor information centre towards the end of last year.

"It was in response to the tourism industry's concerns that Minehead would have no tourism

information centre from the start of the 2012 season," she said.

Mrs Lennon-Wood said the existing seafront centre had not proved financially sustainable and that a central location would enable it to have continuous use throughout the year.

She said it was accepted that any centre would have to become self sustaining within two years and the MDT was committed to its proposal for the long term, whether its eventual aim to transfer it to Minehead's old hospital - earmarked as a hoped for community and cultural hub - was realised.

MDT trustee Ray Tew said it would, however, make absolute sense to amalgamate any tourism provision within the old hospital site as part of a bigger cultural and regeneration plan.

But he said the MDT was keen that whatever scheme it became involved in stacked up financially.

"The days of local authority funding are gone," he warned.

Fellow trustee Graham Sizer was involved in a Minehead Chamber of Trade bid which failed to materialise last year that would have seen the organisation take over and run the seafront visitor centre.

But Mr Sizer told the meeting that he had come to the conclusion that the seafront was the wrong place to site the facility.

"When visitor centres are close to centres they achieve better results," he said.

Mr Sizer said the proposed shop location was 30 metres from a car park and would be able to generate enough trade throughout the winter months.

He said any relocation of the tourism provision to the old hospital could be three years away.

The MDT had approved the shop proposal plans and had stepped in to fill a gap so central to the town's needs.

"Ours is a professional set-up - it is not rushed.

"We have backing financially, and in kind. Our staff will be of a high calibre and, most importantly, we are ready to go."

Mr Sizer said the aim was to begin adding a more commercial slant to the visitor centre operation, selling local produce, advertising local events and staging its own.

The chamber of trade, of which Mr Sizer is chairman, has agreed to provide a £10,000 buffer to the shop proposal.

He said some people might question whether the "bonding" between the chamber and the MDT was a good thing.

But he said if the two organisations could work together and get both the town and district councils on board, only good could come of it.

Advertisements for a visitor centre manager have already gone out and Mr Sizer said offering a £20,000 annual salary had ensured a good crop of quality candidates.

The MDT-run centre would cost around £78,000 a year to run but Mr Sizer previously pledged that it would be free of local authority funding within two years.

He told councillors that it could be open within three weeks of the district council making its decision on a request for a £20,000 investment this year - certainly in time for the May bank holiday.

Cllr John Clyde-Smith said the season was heavily weighted to the summer, which would favour a seafront location.

"The footfall on the seafront from May to October is huge," he said.

And Cllr Clyde-Smith said the reason the existing centre was unsuccessful was because it was not run properly.

A move to support the MDT proposal was put forward by Cllr Oliver Harvey who said that in the absence of any presentation from the rival town council working group bid, the matter was decided by default.

"We have had one presentation and no presentation from the other group so we cannot consider it.

"We cannot afford to delay. In the absence of any alternative we have no option but to say that it has been decided by default,"Cllr Clyde-Smith argued that all councillors had received a copy of the town council working group proposal.

"It may not have been verbalised tonight but I assume everyone has read it," he said.

"We may not have had a presentation but we should have read it so presumably everyone has a view on it."

But he received no support from other councillors and the move to back the MDT proposal was carried by five votes to one, with Cllr Clyde-Smith voting against it.

Those supporting it were Cllrs Val Welch, Steve Pickard, Ron Bridle, Les Smith and Oliver Harvey.

Councillors not attending were Marcus Kravis, Stephen Grice, Stan Taylor, Paul Grierson, Anna Blake, Molly Studley, Fausto Lalomia, Danny McGee, Tony Berry, Terry Venner.

The MDT proposal will be considered by the district council on April 16.

A spokesman for the authority said yesterday (Thursday): "Both parties that expressed an interest in running the visitor information centre services were advised that they needed to submit complete bids, including full business cases that reflected the decision made by Minehead Town Council at its meeting.

"Only one complete proposal was submitted by the Minehead Development Trust and this will be considered by the full council on April 16."

After the meeting, Mrs Lennon-Wood told the Free Press that the MDT was delighted with the town council's decision.

"We are very grateful to receive its support and we now hope that West Somerset Council will also support us so that we can move forward and hopefully get a visitor centre up and running," she said.