TAUNTON Deane Borough Council is to press ahead with plans to invest in a £16 million hotel for Firepool.

A heated debate ensued at Taunton Deane Borough Council's meeting last night (Tuesday, December 11) the Conservative-led group staved off a motion to defer the decision until the new Somerset West and Taunton Council had been elected and formed.

The plan is for the council to borrow the money to build the hotel, maintaining its ownership and then leasing the premises to a leading hotel chain, rumoured to be Hilton.

However it was clear in the hour-long the debate that the project divided opinion - and not just down party lines.

Cllr Mark Edwards gave a presentation in favour of pressing ahead with the project.

In the consultation of local businesses run by the council, only 35 of 312 businesses contacted replied - 57 per cent whom said they were against the project.

However, Cllr Edwards said: "This would be a mid-market hotel, many of the hoteliers expressing concern would not be impacted as they offer something different.

"This would be a hotel for the Taunton area, not just for Firepool. It will bring people into Taunton.

"Bridgwater has just opened a similar size Mercure Hotel, and it is already doing good business.

"We need to be ambitious but when try, we find resistance at every turn."

Cllr Ross Henley vehemently disagreed with Cllr Edwards, saying he felt he had put 'spin' on his presentation.

"No, no and again no. This is a deeply flawed plan opposed by the majority of people of Taunton," Cllr Henley said.

"It is a huge risk to be putting on the taxpayer."

Cllr Habib Farbahi proposed a motion for the decision to build the hotel to be deferred until the new council had been formed as he felt it was unfair to saddle the new authority with the costs.

However Cllr Terry Beale said: "This whole thing drives me batty to be honest.

"We were given a steer - be more progressive, look at revenue and how Taunton can be improved - and every time we act on that we get slated for it.

"West Somerset Council had been consulted before the decision in April, they were on board then, we have a robust business case and all the problems that are coming up now came up when this was initially approved. The public just want us to get on with it.

"If we don't do this, people who might want to come to Taunton will go to Bridgwater instead - The Mercure is already fully booked for the Cricket World Cup games next summer.

"If we delay this again we might as well chuck it altogether, which is what I expect some people in this room want us to do."

Cllr Roger Habgood of the Conservatives said he felt he could not support the project because of the timing as opposed to the concept of a hotel on the site; while Federica Smith-Roberts of the Liberal Democrats said this was not a matter of political ping-pong and, weighing up the proposal before her, felt she was in favour of the plan.

After considerable debate, the recommendation to continue with the Firepool Hotel Project was approved.