A GROUP representing Minehead traders has expressed frustration that a bid to brighten up the town and boost tourism with decorative lighting has not won the support of the town council.

Minehead Chamber of Commerce is hoping to install more than 5,000 LED lights on 26 of the 56 trees lining The Avenue.

The chamber is hoping to fund the Decorative Lighting Project with £30,000 from the £150,000 pot given to West Somerset Council by Morrisons as part of a legal agreement, called a section 106, connected to the building of its supermarket in the town.

Graham Sizer, chairman of Minehead Chamber of Commerce, gave a presentation at Monday night’s meeting of Minehead Town Council, where he was hoping to win the support of the town council towards the chamber’s bid for funding.

He told the meeting: “The lights are knitted globes peppered with low wattage LED lights.

“They will act as a draw for visitors in the summer evenings and put a smile on the faces of residents in our gloomy winters.”

However, the town council said it had concerns and did not give its support.

Cllr Tony Berry said previous attempts to provide lighting in The Avenue had failed and he wasn’t sure this latest scheme would be a success, while Cllr Tristan Tonks highlighted the cost of “decommissioning” the project, i.e. taking the lights down at any point in the future should that be required.

Cllr Tonks told the County Gazette afterwards: “We feel we have not been given enough information on the project to support it.

"We worry that it will become the liability of the council to maintain it or decommission it.

“The bid for the money does not need council approval for it to go ahead and it may be discussed at a town council meeting again.”

However, Mr Sizer told the County Gazette town council backing would have been a huge boost towards the bid to West Somerset Council for funding.

He said relations between the chamber and the town council were at “an all time low” and that “contact with Minehead Town Council has been virtually lost over the Avenue lights project recently which prompted the agenda item (at Monday’s meeting).”

Stephen Hooper, manager at Minehead Vision, another group set up to promote the town, said he fully supported the lights project.

He said: “The tree-lined main avenue is an iconic part of the town’s charm; the year round illuminations will make an evening walk magical and memorable, a vision to experience.”

If the section 106 money is not spent by April 2015, West Somerset Council must return it to Morrisons.

Some projects have already received money from the fund, such as the Minehead Heritage Trail.