A BUSINESSMAN who was refused permission to open a seafood bar on Minehead seafront says he will seek legal advice if ambitious plans for a farmer's market on the same patch come to fruition.

John Davis fought and lost a lengthy battle with West Somerset District Council two years ago for permission to site a mobile seafood bar opposite the railway station.

At the time, planning officials objected to the visual impact of the mobile bar, while councillors claimed no traders should be allowed to operate on the site.

But members of the council's planning committee who did support the application claimed Mr Davis had simply picked the wrong spot as the site had already been earmarked for a tourist information centre.

That claim was rigorously denied, although Mr Davis' supporters remained adamant there was a "hidden agenda".

Now Mr Davis says he is prepared to tackle the authority all over again after Minehead Coastal Town Initiative (CTI) revealed plans last month for a state-of-the-art visitor centre and a farmers' market on the seafront.

Although only proposals, which will still have to go through the planning process, the CTI was set up with full Government support specifically to come up with ideas to regenerate Minehead.

Its members were tasked with drawing up key action points, all of which could be viable for hundreds of thousands of pounds of Government funding.

Mr Davis said he was well aware none of the CTI's plans were set in tablets of stone but he felt sure they stood a good chance of coming to fruition due to the Government's support.

He said: "I know they are only proposals at this time but I don't think they would even be considering them if they didn't think they had a chance.

"It makes me wonder if my attempt for planning permission was a complete waste of time.

"I feel totally aggrieved that they can stop a seafood bar and yet they could allow a farmers' market that could sell anything from goats cheese to buffalo steaks.

"There was not one valid objection to my scheme and I will be seeking legal advice as to why mine was turned down in the light of these proposals."

When Mr Davis' plans were discussed by the district council in May 2000, councillors were advised to refuse permission as officers did not think the design of the seafood bar trailer was acceptable.

They also pointed out that the site was within a conservation area, although Mr Davis' supporters questioned why ice cream stalls were allowed to operate in such an area when a seafood bar was not.

One of his most vocal supporters, Cllr David Banks, said at the time that Mr Davis was showing "entrepreneurial spirit", while Cllr Hugh Davies said of the objectors: "I think a lot of hot air has been said and there is a hidden agenda."

But the then vice chairman of the council Cllr Stan Taylor was adamant permission should not be given.

He said: "If we allow one trader on that side of the road in then we are setting a precedent for more.

"I am adamant that the seafront is kept open for the public and not for caterers and nobody should be allowed to sell goods there."

Minehead Town Council had also objected to Mr Davis' plans as being "aesthetically unacceptable" and "totally out of keeping with the new seafront promenade".

As well as the visitor centre and farmers' market, the CTI's proposals also include a cultural and community centre, skateboard park and ferry link across the Bristol Channel.

Members of the public are currently being asked for their views on the ideas before a final draft is put to the Government next month in an attempt to secure funding.

Mr Davis added: "Is the criteria for what goes on the seafront not what people necessarily want, but what will attract Government funding?

"I find it difficult to see the difference between a tourist information centre, a farmers' market and a seafood bar."